United to Learn Launches Fourth Annual Back to School Drive

United to Learn Launches Fourth Annual Back to School Drive

Learning Launch campaign kicks off with a new “Dinner for a Cause” virtual event

New at-home fundraiser featuring The Defined Dish and Origin Kitchen + Bar aims to fulfill wish lists of 2,500 Dallas ISD elementary teachers benefiting 28,500 students

Dallas, TX (August 17, 2020) – United to Learn, a Dallas-based nonprofit that partners with 47 Dallas ISD elementary schools to accelerate student achievement and grow purposeful leaders, has kicked off its fourth annual Learning Launch campaign.Learning Launch is a back-to-school supply drive that equips teachers and students with teacher-requested learning resources and tools not covered by public school budgets. Teachers typically spend an average of $600 annually of their own money to ensure their students have the tools needed to succeed. Learning Launch aims to help fill these gaps so teachers can have the necessary resources to educate young learners.

This year, the impact of COVID-19 creates a more acute situation for teachers and schools as they prepare their classrooms to follow new health and safety guidelines, that include desks at a safe distance, individual learning tools and supplies to reduce sharing, and new technology to sign-in students and capture individuals’ temperatures. “The Learning Launch back-to-school drive will help our campus secure supplemental resources for staff, as we safely welcome students back to school this fall,” said Tara L. Berry, Principal, Cedar Crest Elementary, Dallas ISD. “The pandemic has proven its own set of opportunities for growth, but this partnership reinforces why strong, community partnerships can also help equip our team of educators with additional supplies to serve our nearly 400 students this year.”

Under the chairmanship of Lindsay Billingsley, United to Learn’s Learning Launch has added an exciting virtual, at-home celebration to raise critical funds to help fill these essential resource gaps. “This year we hope that Learning Launch alleviate the financial burden of purchasing back to school supplies for teachers and ultimately supports thousands of families in our city,” said Billingsley. “We know that teachers spend their own resources on school supplies for their classrooms. By offsetting this cost for our teachers, we are letting them know that we value them and we support them.

COVID-19 has lengthened the list of supplies and resources needed for back to school this year, so we need your support more than ever.” This year’s Learning Launch campaign will include “Dinner for a Cause, where the first 50 people to donate $1,000 and above by August 31 will receive a dinner for two and a keepsake tablescape delivered on September 10 by Alto. The dinner can be enjoyed at home or be donated to a friend or teacher.

The at-home dinner will be created by Dallas’ renowned food influencer and New York Times bestselling author of The Defined Dish, Alex Snodgrass, prepared by Origin Kitchen + Bar, and includes an elegant, reusable tablescape created by Emily Clarke Events. Donations of any amount will help fulfill teachers’ wish lists. They can be made at www.unitedtolearn.org/learninglaunch through September 17. With a focus on literacy education, Learning Launch seeks to fulfill every teacher request across all 53 Dallas ISD partner elementary schools city-wide, benefiting 28,500 students and 2,500 educators.