Teacher’s Desk helps give more than $8.5 million of classroom supplies

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — When you flip through a vocabulary book, you might spot out that there’s no “I” in team. That’s the case for the team of volunteers, sponsors and donors who all support the Teacher’s Desk mission to help provide free school supplies for 6,000 local teachers every year.

“It’s a critical role that teachers play, and for me and all of us here at the Teacher’s Desk and our incredible volunteer team, I find it amazing that we can send a little encouragement their way,” said John Mika, director of the Teacher’s Desk. “When teachers come in our doors, they’re hooting, they’re hollering, they’re crying, they’re saying it’s like Christmas.”

From hygiene products to classroom essentials, each qualified teacher can walk through and put up to a thousand dollars of supplies in their cart. These classroom essentials are a nonstop need that Mika discovered during his time as a substitute teacher.

“I would go to four to five different schools, and there would always be a couple of pencils, so it stuck in my mind that there was three in several classes. I would go to suburban schools, like Williamsville, and there would be pencils everywhere on the floor at the end of the school day,” Mika said. “Not the kids’ fault at all, it’s just what you have sometimes you don’t realize how precious it is.”

He came up with the idea that if you have a pencil, you have a chance and that these supplies could help children in need succeed.

“You have your supplies now, you have your chance — the possibilities are endless, imagine what you can do with a pencil right, imagine if you do the right things,” Mika said.

They give away $6 million of classroom supplies every year, and they give away $2.5 million of supplies with the “Pancho Packs” that helps continue the legacy of Pancho Billa.

They give out 21,000 Pancho Packs a year, full of supplies, hygiene products and a football and water bottle in Pancho Bila’s memory.

The Teacher’s Desk in Buffalo is one of three that are located throughout New York State and they say the need is nonstop. They receive donations from all over the country, but also right outside their doorstep in the city of good neighbors.

“They want to pay it forward if they can, and we sure appreciate it, because we cannot do it without folks helping us out that way,” Mika said.

They accept like new-used supplies in their donation drop-off bin right at their doorstep at their warehouse located at 22 Northampton St. For more information on the Teacher’s Desk visit their website here.

Hope Winter is a reporter and multimedia journalist who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here .