‘Abbott Elementary’ and DonorsChoose Set Initiative to Donate Up to $1 Million to Public School Teachers (EXCLUSIVE)

Selome Hailu
·2 min read
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As “Abbott Elementary” returns to ABC for the latter half of its second season, DonorsChoose has set a new initiative that aims to get $1 million into public school classrooms.

DonorsChoose has invited teachers at public schools to share projects for which they hope to receive funding beginning on Wednesday. Starting Jan. 10, the non-profit organization will accept donations for these projects in celebration of “Abbott Elementary,” and will match donations up to $500,000, limited to $200 per person, with a goal of giving $1 million in total.

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“In following Quinta Brunson’s lead, honoring the impact of teachers has been a hugely important component of our ‘Abbott Elementary’ campaign,” said Laura Lovas, vice president of strategic partnerships and events at ABC Entertainment. “Outside of the joy the series is bringing to fans, it’s rewarding to see the positive impact that has been made in the public education community through continued work with incredible brands like Scholastic. And now, we couldn’t be more excited that DonorsChoose will be matching up to $500k in donations with a goal of reaching $1 million in classroom funding in celebration of ‘Abbott.’”

As noted by Lovas, this is not the first time “Abbott Elementary” has been involved with charitable giving campaigns aligned with the series’ focus on public schools in need.

As reported by Variety, in 2021 the series collaborated with Scholastic to become the first entertainment brand to provide underfunded schools with free book fairs, and a second round of book fairs kicked off in fall 2022. Timed to the Season 2 premiere, Lakeshore Learning launched a sweepstakes that offered teachers a shopping spree for school supplies, while New York & Company did the same for clothes shopping. “Abbott Elementary” teamed up with French Toast to donate uniforms to Title 1 schools and with Lifetime Brands’ S’well to donate 10,000 reusable water bottles to students around the country.

Additionally, DonorsChoose has backed “Abbott Elementary” once before by working with ABC affiliate stations to identify a “teacher of the week” in various local markets and provide those teachers with funding for their classrooms. Markets included to date include Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Fresno and San Antonio. DonorsChoose also works with Disney on Disney Future Storytellers on different social investments and collaborations aimed at empowering the next generation of storytellers to build talent and skills for the future.

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