Wednesday, April 15, 2020
After This Teacher Shared Her Salary on Facebook, a Stranger Launched a Movement to Buy Her School Supplies
After This Teacher Shared Her Salary on Facebook, a Stranger Launched a Movement to Buy Her School Supplies When Elisabeth Milich shared a photo of her meager salary on Facebook last year, she never thought the simple post would change her life â" and the lives of other teachers. Last year, Milich, a 43-year-old second-grade teacher at Whispering Wind Academy in Phoenix, posted a shot showing her $35,000 teaching salary. Her intent, she says, was to highlight that many teachers struggle with the salary while having to pay for additional class supplies. âThat is the frustration. Thatâs what prompted me to post it. But I had no idea it would have the effect it had,â Milich tells PEOPLE, noting that the post was shared at least 1,000 times in just five days. âIt ended up going viral. Besides shock and disbelief ⦠a lot of the responses were super positive and resulted in a lot of people being made aware of how low teacherâs salaries are.â Milich says she published the Facebook post in March and shared that she pays for âevery roll of tape I use, every paper clip I use, every sharpie I grade with, every snack I feed kids who donât have them, every decorated bulletin board.â Milich, a mom of three, deleted the post after just five days due to negative comments from people who accused her of âcomplainingâ or being dishonest. However, Milich says she has taught for at least seven years and the pay stub was recent. With the post gone, Milich forgot about the incident. But she was reminded months later when she opened a Facebook message from a stranger at the beginning of the current school year. âHe simply said, âHas anybody offered to buy supplies for your classroom?â I wrote him back and said, âNo,â â Milich recalls. âHe wrote back and said, âI would like to purchase any supplies that you need for your classroom.â I just thought that was so crazy and thereâs gotta be a catch because this man lives in New York!â RELATED: Everywhere You Can Get Free Food and Deals for National Teacher and Nurses Week Sure enough, the stranger â" Ben Adam â" sent Milich everything she asked for, and has done so each semester since. He sends the supplies through Amazon and Milich says heâs even done the same for five other teachers at the school. âIt has changed my life completely. Itâs so humbling and so kind, it just renews my faith in the human race. There are kind, kind people who want nothing in return. Itâs immensely helped me in the sense that Iâm not buying things and donât have to go without. Itâs blessed me as a teacher,â Milich says, noting that the gesture has touched her students as well. âWe call him our New York friend. [My students] are so excited when a package arrives to the classroom and they canât wait to see what it is,â she adds. âItâs changed the whole culture of our classroom and is so impactful. Itâs been an amazing partnership.â Adam took his kindness even further and launched Classroom Giving, where people can volunteer to provide a classroom anywhere with school supplies. The website lists more than a dozen classrooms that are now âfully suppliedâ as a result of the organization. Adam told Good Morning America that Classroom Giving does not function as a fundraiser, noting that the site allows participants to send supplies directly to classrooms. âWe are not asking for donations and we are not raising any funds,â he explained. âIt takes you to Amazon and you enter the classroom address into your Amazon address book. You send whatever you can afford and you know that item has gotten exactly to the person you sent it to.â
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