Donating School Supplies Locally while Cruising

[MousseauMob]

Does anyone have experience donating school supplies to local schools while cruising? I was reading a thread of a family on a different cruise line where they donated school supplies to a local school in Mexico. I thought it sounded like a great idea and decided to look into it. I was thinking either Cozumel or Falmouth might be possible. I have no experience with this at all, and I have some challenges, in that I don't belong to a religious group and don't participate in social media (other than the Disboards) and my cruise meets are both dead - little to no talking going on. Any experience, tips, suggestions, or recommendations you may have is greatly appreciated!

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I don't have experience donating school supplies out of the country but I do have a lot of experience donating local to me. My husband works for a company that sells school/day care supplies and end up donating to local schools those things that have been photographed for the catalog and not to be used again. Brand new products. They outreach to local schools, the only thing they have to do is get a big truck and pick it up. If it doesn't work out doing this while cruising, they are dozens of schools who would appreciate and really need supplies. You're doing a wonderful thing. Thank you.

 

[MousseauMob]

I don't have experience donating school supplies out of the country but I do have a lot of experience donating local to me. My husband works for a company that sells school/day care supplies and end up donating to local schools those things that have been photographed for the catalog and not to be used again. Brand new products. They outreach to local schools, the only thing they have to do is get a big truck and pick it up. If it doesn't work out doing this while cruising, they are dozens of schools who would appreciate and really need supplies. You're doing a wonderful thing. Thank you.

Oh that's lovely that your husband's company does that, I'll keep this in mind also. Thanks.

 

[ldo]

we did it when in Ocho Rios, Jamaica on RCCL last month. We booked a beach break with Jaitaltours.com and there was somehting mentioned on our confirmation about donating school supplies. I asked our girl scout troop for donations at one of our meetings and we filled up a large box that we took. I have also donated an old suitcase full of clothing in Cozumel about 10 years ago. Just google cruisingforacause, donating school supplies, clothing, etc. and you will find info. We met someone at Paradise Beach Club in Cozumel and gave her the old suitcases with clothing in them. She ran a hostel and brought 2 Belgium tourists with her to pick them up. She might still be there--don't have any contact info, but maybe a google search can find her. For clothing, you can ask friends, neighbors with kids for outgrown nearly new condition clothing. good luck! Elaine

 

[tinkerone]

heres a web site that you can go to. it will allow you to pick the country you are going to and lists what they are in need of. there are drop off points that may or may not be convenient.
http://www.packforapurpose.org

i think its wonderful that you are considering this.

 

[MousseauMob]

Thanks! Lots of good information! My research has begun!

 

[lbgraves]

We did this in 2006 when we went to Costa Maya. I booked a group tour with over 90 DISers through Nativeway for the Chacchoben ruins. We told David that we would be bringing supplies and he had one of our busses deliver them to a small village near the ruins. It was a truly humbling experience that I will never forget. The children were so thankful for everything.

 

[CTdaizy]

We donated supplies in August of 2014 during our stop in Jamaica. We booked a private tour, and let the operator know we wanted to drop stuff off along the way. We went horseback riding through a very poor village and passed stuff out to the kids we saw. They were super excited and told their friends to come to us. We weren't able to give directly to a school since it was August, but that didn't even matter as we gave directly to the kids.

We were part of a FE group, the larger group had maybe 65-70 cabins in it, so I put the word out to everyone that we would collect and distribute. We ended up with about 6 large bags full! Everyone was so generous. It was a great experience for my kids also, they were 11 and 13 at the time. We are hoping to do it again next April! We had tons of paper, notebooks, folders, coloring books, crayons, markers, glue, pencils.. plus some toothbrushes, toothpaste, hair items (my dd is a bow-aholic) and candy, gum and such.

I hope you are able to make it work for your family!

 

[jgura]

I have an email for an American woman in Costa Maya. She assisted us in providing Christmas for a huge family. It was an awesome experience.

 

[MousseauMob]

Thanks everyone! This has all been really helpful!

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Cozumel is in need of supplies. Here is a link with the info for Cozumel. That island is near and dear to my heart. Thank you for your consideration in helping.

http://www.cozumelchrysalisgroup.org/

 

[MousseauMob]

Cozumel is in need of supplies. I would be happy to get the info where to donate school supplies while in Cozumel. That island is near and dear to my heart.

That would be awesome, any information you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to research everything, since I've never done this before, including if there are issues with customs, etc. My hope is that we could do this as well as an excursion as we've never been to Cozumel or Jamaica before. That way we can do some good and have some fun. We're in Cozumel on a Sunday, so I know we can't visit a school, which is totally fine, I'd be just as happy to hand things over to someone at the pier.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I edited my post above but here is the link again. http://www.cozumelchrysalisgroup.org/ I know they would be forever grateful! It is a wonderfully run group.

 

[MousseauMob]

I edited my post above but here is the link again. http://www.cozumelchrysalisgroup.org/ I know they would be forever grateful! It is a wonderfully run group.

Thanks so much! This was a group I had been looking at online, it's so nice to hear from someone that they are well run! Thanks again!

 

[lbgraves]

That would be awesome, any information you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to research everything, since I've never done this before, including if there are issues with customs, etc. My hope is that we could do this as well as an excursion as we've never been to Cozumel or Jamaica before. That way we can do some good and have some fun. We're in Cozumel on a Sunday, so I know we can't visit a school, which is totally fine, I'd be just as happy to hand things over to someone at the pier.

Our group was given a weird look by the guards looked in the boxes when we went through the gate in Costa Maya. With 96 of us we had many boxes of supplies. They didn't give anyone a hard time about it.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Thanks so much! This was a group I had been looking at online, it's so nice to hear from someone that they are well run! Thanks again!

You are very welcome, however, I need to be thanking you for caring about the kids in Cozumel. Your effort will truly be appreciated! XOXO