Cents in Action: Delta Spirit
For this week’s 'Cents in Action' post, we wanted to take the opportunity to highlight an amazing teacher in Clarksdale, MS who on her first cause raised $1,452 to stock her classroom full of supplies and materials for her students! Taylor Cargile, a 1st year teacher with Teach for America, shares her experiences with crowdfunding on PledgeCents in the form of raw feedback below.
I moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi in June 2016, excited, hopeful, and a little bit nervous to start the wonderful journey of being a teacher that I had dreamed about since I was a little girl.
I joined Teach for America right out of college and was placed in one of the highest needs regions in the United States- The Mississippi Delta. Low-income schools in the US come with unique challenges that affluent schools in our country do not usually face. For one, having access to basic school supplies such as paper and pencils is sometimes a difficult task for families in these regions.
As a first year teacher, I knew that I wanted to be able to provide as many resources as I could for my students and their families. I wanted my students to be able to come to school to learn, feel safe, and know they are loved- without having to worry about whether they could afford to bring a pencil to school everyday.
During the summer, a representative from PledgeCents talked to me at a Teach for America event. I immediately knew this was something I wanted to be a part of. I applied for my cause on PledgeCents, got approved, and immediately started receiving donations to my page. Every encounter I had with PledgeCents staff was a pleasure and a relief. PledgeCents staff members treated me with kindness, and made me feel comfortable with the website and the organization. I was promptly responded to with any question I had and received information on my cause throughout the entire process.
I was notified when people donated to my page, left me a message, when I met my goal, and when my funds were available. Receiving my funds was extremely prompt and so easy. I have seen other funding pages where it can sometimes take weeks for users to receive their funds. I was overjoyed that I was able to receive my funds in time to get my students the supplies they needed before the school year started due to PledgeCents precise care of my cause and funds.
Over the course of a few weeks, I received over $1300 for my new classroom. I received money from family, friends, and other who saw my link being shared across Facebook. PledgeCents was also kind enough to donate $1 to my campaign for every Facebook share that my page received.
With the funds I received, I was able to stock my classroom full of brand new supplies: paper, pencils, highlighters, markers, crayons, glue, erasers, whiteboards, tissues, hand sanitizer, folders, notebooks, and much more. I was also able to purchase a large amount of books for my classroom library- I was the most excited for this part. Reading is the most important part of a child’s learning development and now I am able to put books in my students’ hands.
Because of PledgeCents, my students are able to focus on reading and writing in class instead of trying to figure out how they will get the crayons they need for class the next day. My classroom environment is already growing into one where students feel excited to come to class, free to be themselves, and safe knowing they have everything they need, and PledgeCents made this possible.
*Taylor was not compensated for this post
If you have any questions, email us at info@pledgecents.com.
