WISH LIST $100: Support "Help Change Our Writing Center from Ho-Hum to Wow-We-Wow!"; $500: Fund "More Than A 'Fraction' Of Good Times With Calculators"; $1,000: Support "Convection In Action: Middle School Science Lab" or identify projects that move you on the DonorsChoose website

Now here is a simple idea, beautifully executed. Teachers from DC’s 167 public schools and more than 25 charter schools register on a website, fashioning their requests for classroom projects, materials, and services that tight school budgets cannot fund. Requests range from algebra textbooks for a ninth grade class, to Play and Read carpets for hard classroom floors, to butterfly habitats for second graders, and typically cost between $100 and $4000, with an average cost of $400. The staff reviews all requests and then posts them online where donors can choose to fund them (see some examples in the adjacent Wish List). Because contributors support DonorsChoose.org separately, 100% of donations goes directly to the books, carpets, and butterfly habitats, which in turn go straight to the classrooms in need. Photos of the arriving gifts, and handwritten thank you notes, follow. DonorsChoose.org is about making a concrete difference right now: so far, teachers from 175 different schools have registered on the website and, since 2003, 1,549 local proposals have been funded by citizens in 46 states, channeling $545,360 worth of resources to more than 30,900 DC schoolchildren. You can support the organization itself through the Catalogue, or visit its website and choose a project you love. It’s that easy.

Kate Hays, Deputy Director, Atlantic Region 1825 K Street, NW, Suite 1080 Washington, DC 20006 703-380-9433 www.donorschoose.org/dc