In May 2015, Stephen Colbert shocked South Carolina educators when he announced a partnership with Fair Nation and ScanSource to fund every single teacher requested grant at South Carolina schools. The donation covered requests from more than 800 teachers in 375 schools.
The late night comedian is on the board of DonorsChoose.org and today they announced Colbert is taking his fundraising to a whole other level. He’s launched a #BestSchoolDay hashtag to encourage donations nationwide. The fundraiser kicked off with the news he’s already amassed a small army of large donors:
A DonorsChoose.org board member since 2009, Colbert inspired #BestSchoolDay, a call to action for people to fund supplies and resources for classrooms in need across America. Celebrities, athletes, business executives and more have joined in the cause, committing over $14 million to flash fund over 11,000 projects in communities spanning 47 states and D.C.
"#BestSchoolDay is probably the best thing I've ever been involved in," Colbert told "CBS This Morning" on Thursday. "It's my favorite charity because teachers in classrooms all around the country can put up any project they want to teach their children or help their kids with but they don't have the funds for."
Fifty-eight celebrities, athletes, business executives and more have joined in the cause, committing over $14 million to flash fund over 11,000 projects in communities spanning 47 states and D.C.
Wow! $14 million already committed! As Colbert says, teachers are the real heroes:
"The reason they're doing it and the reason I did it is that I know the real heroes are the teachers who are too often themselves spending their own money for these projects," Colbert said. "And every dollar you give goes exactly to that project and you hear back from those kids."
On a personal note, I was moved to donate last year after I saw what he did in South Carolina. I can attest how wonderful it was to hear from both the teacher and the students after a donation. No doubt there are some very, very happy teachers and students out there today. It really is the #BestSchoolDay ever!