Pencils.com Teams Up With Pencils for Kids

Pencils for Kids: Every Child’s Future Begins with a Pencil

Pencils.com is excited to share that we have teamed up with Pencils for Kids, a non-profit organization dedicated to supplying children around the world with desperately needed school supplies. The organization, which was founded in 2005, believes in making a difference in the world by providing every child the opportunity for an education. You can read about how they got started here, but here is a small excerpt from their story that sums up their mission statement quite nicely:

“Pencils for Kids, Inc. is dedicated to helping children in need in developing countries to attend school and, in doing so, build the foundation for a better future.”

Last month, a team of six volunteers representing the organization traveled to Burma to for a week-long mission to deliver school gear to children in need. While there, they hand-delivered backpacks filled with school supplies and uniforms to 350 children throughout the Yangon province in Burma.

“The cost to provide a backpack filled with school supplies and a school uniform in all the destinations is $40 per backpack… $0.11 per day.”

“All of the children we serve are either orphan girls in a monastic nunnery, or come from extremely poor families who earn $1/day or less,” said Retta Jitner, Founder and President of Pencils for Kids.

In May, Pencils for Kids will head to Thailand for their fifth year of service in the Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai provinces. Then, in July, they will head to Bali for their sixth year of service in the region. In all, Pencils for Kids hopes to serve a total of 2200 children in Burma, Thailand and Bali.

“The cost to provide a backpack filled with school supplies and a school uniform in all the destinations is $40 per backpack,” Retta explained. “$0.11 per day.”

Pencils.com donated 54000 graphite and color pencils to help fill the backpacks, which were custom made for Pencils for Kids in Bangkok. The nearly 200 robes that were supplied were hand sewn by a group of Buddhist nuns.

To quote Retta, “every child’s future begins with a pencil.” We couldn’t be more excited to be a part of that future.