‘Fund the Future’ campaign holds teacher supply drive

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Organizers with the Fund the Future campaign held a supply drive for teachers on Saturday. 

The drive was held at the Sigmon Rd. Walmart to collect cleaning supplies likes paper towels, disinfectant wipes, and hand sanitizer for teachers in New Hanover County. 

Organizers also collected signatures for a petition that demands no student-facing positions to be cut from the district. The joint campaign between New Hanover for All and the New Hanover County Association of Educators came in response to the board of education’s $20 million budget deficit that could see as many as 279 jobs cut by next year. 

New Hanover for All member Marci Staten said that although people often think about things like pencils, pens, and paper for school supplies, cleaning supplies are often in short supply as teachers now need prior authorization to purchase them. 

“We also have teachers that are running short on these supplies already, she said. “One school that we heard about the parents went out and bought paper towels for their own school.” 

Staten told WWAY throughout the day they collected 200 signatures and hundreds of dollars in supplies. 

To learn more about the Fund the Future campaign, or to sign the petition, click here.