Cam’s grandmother was a Pittsburgh Public Schools teacher for more than 30 years. His grandfather taught high school before working for the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers for more than 40 years. Giving every child access to a strong, supportive, and rich education is something that we take very seriously. It’s a right and not a privilege.
Supporting local students is something that we are honored to do, and we are always looking for ways to get even more involved.
For lots of kids the weekend is a welcome break from the classroom. For others, it’s also a break from guaranteed meals. That’s because one in five children in the United States faces food insecurity. Three out of every five teachers say that they have students who regularly come to school hungry.
Not having enough to eat can affect a child’s emotional, social, and academic wellbeing. Students who are consistently hungry report physical health issues, poor academic performance, shorter attention span, and more.
Blessings in a Backpack wants to make sure that no child goes hungry. This amazing program provides backpacks full of food for students to take home over the weekend. As little as $100 feeds one child on the weekends for a full school year.
We are proud to support Blessings in a Backpack in our local schools. If you would like to learn more about our partnership with Blessings, contact charlotteh@theheywardhouse.org. If you would like to help us pack backpacks for local students, contact nwilliams@theheywardhouse.org.
We’re excited that donating to Donors Choose has become a yearly tradition for us. Over the past two years, we’ve funded more than 40 projects at local schools through Donors Choose – a site that matches teachers with donors who want to help “make classroom dreams come true.”
Companies can donate, individuals can donate, you can fund an entire project, you can contribute a few dollars—it’s an amazing way for people to come together and support schools, educators, and most importantly, students. We encourage everyone to visit the site and browse the projects that are posted—we guaranteed you’ll be inspired by the dedicated and creative teachers out there.
And, if you’re a teacher—make sure to post your fundraising goal today!
Two more yearly traditions we love – making sure the students at Urban Pathways start the school year off on the right foot. Each year we provide a backpack full of school supplies for the students at this downtown Pittsburgh school. It’s so fun to see the excitement on the kids’ faces when they realize that all of the goodies are theirs to keep.
We also visit the kids during literacy week which is the first week in September. We read to them and spend time talking about the importance of books and reading. They love guest readers and we love spending time with them.
If you’d like to help us pack up the school supplies or are interested in participating in literacy week, let us know by emailing: nwilliams@theheywardhouse.org.
