SPOKANE, Wash. — About 1 in 30 kids in Spokane Public Schools (SPS) are experiencing unstable housing, with 200 of those students being unaccompanied. An SPS fundraiser was created to support these children during the holiday season.
SPS is asking for the public to donate gift cards to their program HEART, Homeless Education and Resources Team. It is designed to serve students who share housing with others due to losing a home, who are living in hotels, motels, other alternative living accommodations, living in emergency shelters, the list goes on.
Gift cards can be for anywhere that kids go, or for anything that kids do. It is preferred that all gift cards are unused, but they will accept used gift cards as long as you tell them how much is on them.
Once donated, SPS will give each card to the student who needs it most. If a student is struggling to find food, they might get a gift card to a restaurant. If they need clothes, they might get one for a retail store.
You can drop off gift cards at any school in the district, or you can mail them to the district’s administration building at 200 N. Bernard St., Spokane, WA, 99201, c/o Communications Dept.
This fundraiser will continue through Dec. 11th, which allows the district to distribute these gift cards before winter break. The district will accept your donations year-round though.
You can find out more at the Spokane Public Schools website.
