Did you know May is Teacher Appreciation Month? Teachers play a critical role in shaping the future of local communities all across the country. There are a lot of ways to support your child’s teacher including volunteering in the classroom, donating supplies, and buying them a gift. Today I’m sharing an additional way to help a teacher and their students. SONIC’s Limeades for Learning® program has partnered with DonorsChoose to donate millions of dollars to public school teachers nationwide! Here’s how you can help!
This is a partnered post with SONIC Drive-In. All opinions are my own.
Support a Teacher with DonorsChoose
Let’s face it – teachers are underpaid and often undervalued. Yet we depend on them to raise our children. They are role models, resourceful, and passionate despite their circumstances. So how can we as a community support our public schools? Donate using DonorsChoose – a website that allows teachers to post projects like butterfly gardens to STEM projects to classroom books. All projects are vetted before going live on the website to confirm accuracy. You can donate as little or as much as you’d like. Every donation helps!
How SONIC Drive-In is helping our teachers
Recognizing public school teachers needed more support, SONIC Drive-In partnered with DonorsChoose.org ten years ago to come up with a solution. In 2009 SONIC launched Limeades for Learning, a national award-winning initiative to support U.S. public school teachers in local communities. Since the launch of SONIC’s Limeades for Learning philanthropic campaign in partnership with DonorsChoose.org, SONIC has donated $9.5 million to public school teachers nationwide to fund essential learning materials and innovative teaching resources to inspire creativity and learning in today’s youth.
There are now three periods in which SONIC makes $1 million donations to public schools:
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- During the Fall Voting Campaign, which typically runs from late September through October
- Throughout the months of January through April during a series of surprise funding events in cities across the country – as an example, today SONIC funded 75 teacher projects from across the country in honor of National Handwriting Day
- Throughout the month of May during #ThanksTeach, a social media campaign encouraging consumers to thank their favorite teachers during Teacher Appreciation Month
Earlier this month, I went to the Limeades for Learning website to scout teacher’s projects to see how I could support them. I found so many great projects, it was hard to choose! I supported two great causes right here in my county; chapter books for 2nd graders and a STEM project for 5th graders. Both are still in need of support to complete their projects. I also found a variety of other projects that were worthwhile, including laptops for low-income communities.
I want to encourage you to donate to a public school teacher in need by visiting Limeades for Learning and finding a project that speaks to you. I can’t think of a better Teacher Appreciation gift! Use code: LIFTOFF to automatically double the donation by $50!
Giveaway Time!
Enter below for your chance to win a $200 DonorsChoose gift card and $50 SONIC gift card!
Not sure how to enter my giveaways?
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Cheryl says
I don’t have school age children or grandchildren, so I haven’t ever considered donating to a teacher via DonorsChoose.
Cori says
Donors Choose is such a great program for teachers. I have seen several of my teacher friends receive great items for their classrooms.
Trish Luddy says
I have looked at projects before and considered posting my own since I am a teacher.
Jeanna says
I have not until reading this article! There are a few local schools here that I saw on that list that I would love to help out!
mami2jcn says
I haven’t looked into it but I should because I have friends who are teachers.
Angie Rumpf says
I love Donors Choose! My kiddos teachers use it and we have supported others. It is a great way to raise awareness and fulfill needs in the classrooms!
Tim says
I did not know about DonorsChoose. We do the box tops for our school, but that is about it.
Perlita Mata says
i have donated to a teacher before through Donors choose. I always try to look for teachers with a great cause and need and donate as much as i can
Kimmy Ripley says
I would choose a school. It’s sad to me that they get very little money to fund projects.
Jennifer Barr says
Donors choose is new to me but have donated classroom items directly.
Ellie Wright says
I had not heard of this before now.
Jenny Ham says
I did not know about DonorsChoose till recently
Rebecca Joiner says
I’ve never heard of it but I’m a substitute teacher and I know that teachers can use all the help they can get. Thank you for doing what you do 🙂
Jeffrey says
I’ve never heard of Donors Choose, but did find something at my child’s school that I would donate the money to if I won.
Jennifer Williams says
That’s a fantastic idea! I will have to look into donating.
alena svetelska says
i woukd probably choose a school to donate
Sherry Bult says
I have never heard of this program! It is a great way to donate money to help the teachers!
Sherry Bult says
Yes, If I do win I will donate all of it to this program!
Margaret Smith says
If one of my kids schools were requesting donations, I would consider donating.
HS says
I should use DonorsChoose more, usually I just donate to local schools.
Adrienne Gordon says
I have done that.
Patricia says
I have not. This is the first time I am hearing of this. This is a great ides.
latanya says
no, this is my first time hearing about it
Sandy Klocinski says
I don’t have any young children or grandchildren so it’s not really something I’ve thought about
bill norris says
I have actually.
Lauren says
I have not thought about it before.
Will G says
I have not. Just found about this recently.
Mita says
I have not looked into it yet but I should because I have friends who are teachers.
MJ says
Yes, I donate frequently!
Michelle says
I donate all the time! I love Donorschoose.org!
Dana Rodriguez says
I recently looked at this site and I saw a third grade class where we live needing several things!
Ann Fantom says
Yes, if any of my daughter’s teachers requested a donation, I would consider donating
Shannon Baas says
One of the local teachers used this last year to get some items for her classroom.
Dan Dykstra says
No I did not. My daughter in law teaches at a High School near us.
Jeremy McLaughlin says
Yes, I would donate to Donors choose.
Rachel says
I’ve never considered donating before but I might now.
shirley says
I did not know about DonorsChoose until reading this, sounds like a great program.
Kim Vij says
Love the concept of DonorsChoose for teachers. Teachers have so many needs in their classrooms and this is one way we can help so many do the job they are trained to do . Thanks for sharing about it to spread the word!
April says
I didn’t know you could do this. I’m definitely going to be looking into it!
kathy Persons says
I have donated to my local school with this
Stacy F. says
No, I haven’t since I haven’t heard of it, but what a great program. Super cool.
McKim says
My daughter is a third grade teacher. She spends several hundred dollars each year for things for her classroom/students. I was not aware of the program, but will bring it to her attention.
Lisa Bourlier says
Sounds like a great cause and I would def consider donating!
Antoinette M says
I have not donated. This is a wonderful way of helping teachers and students.
Rosanne says
Yes I have. My daughter in law has been a teacher for 15 years. She has taught in very disadvantaged schools and teachers often take out of their own pockets to provide for what the students need. Our schools need to be as up to take on technology as possible
Janet Woodling says
My daughter is a teacher. I have not donated via Donors Choose however I donate to her class and school directly.
Kelly D says
I have considered this, because I have 2 kids in school and I know how important these projects are.
Alexandra Y says
I hadn’t heard of this before, but I will consider donating now.
Bryan Vice says
I’m just now finding out about Donating at donors choose
Rachel D says
I haven’t. I’ve used Amazon to donate to a teacher’s wish list after the Flood in August 2016. But I think anything like this is a wonderful idea!
Jessica To says
I have not because I’ve never heard of this program before.
beth shepherd says
I have not heard of this before now. Definitely worth looking into.
heather says
No I had never heard of this program before.
Mary Beth Elderton says
I have just learned about DonorChoose and have already found a classroom near me that needs help. I live in a area where it is difficult for families to provide everything their childrens’ schools need.
Melissa Moeller says
I have donated to many donors choose projects. It is an awesome resource for teachers.
Nicole Lancaster says
I have donate to local teachers via DonorsChoose in past.
Lauryn R says
I have not, but only because I homeschool my children. We do have a lot of local schools with amazing teachers though!
Julia Baxter says
I have not donated but I have had friends projects fulfilled.
cheryl s says
I have not donated – wasn’t familiar with this site
Christina G. says
I never heard of this program, so I never considered it before. But I will!
Carolyn Deal says
I have donated! A teacher was able to get a video camera to record mock interviews!
Kim Miller says
I didn’t until I saw a contest for it.
Laurajj says
I have not heard of it before, but was so surprised to see one our teachers at our little ones school on there. I would love to donate to her!
elizabeth peck says
I had never heard of it. I might now.
Carol says
I had not heard of this before now.
kimberly burnett says
I have never heard of this before, but would consider it now!
Meghan says
This is my first time hearing about it
Char says
I am a teacher and I appreciate this so much! Thank you for the great offer. I love your blog!!!!!
Kyl Neusch says
have not until reading this article
Kristina says
Yes, I donated when the librarian at my kids’ school was raising money to buy iPads for maker space activities.
Carly S says
It is certainly a great cause! Teachers do such great work. I have not yet donated but might in the future. Thank you!
Darlene Carbajal says
I would love to donate to a teacher soon!
STEPHANIE D SULLIVAN says
I have donated my #sonic codes before but not money. When I get out of debt I will have a lot of extra money to donate to lots of things! 🙂
doug g. says
no . I am not familiar with that org.
Lisa says
No, I was not familiar with Donors Choose before now.
Anne Higgins says
We have always donated to teachers on our own – don’t need a cause/company to do it for us.
Wendy R. says
I was not aware of this donation site until the blog articles. It seems like a great way to support our teachers.
Robin M says
I have donated for my friends who are teachers
Jack B says
Absolutely, I’ve thought about it a few times. Some classes never have enough supplies or support, public or private schools.
Stacy Brogan says
No i have never heard of it until now.
christine j says
I have not heard of this before
Jammie says
I have but funds have always been limited.
Nannypanpan says
I have, I have seen some teachers post on Facebook with their needs
Carrie M says
yes, I have donated to teachers at my daughter’s school for projects they are seeking funds for.
Claire says
Yes, I donate to DonorsChoose projects several times a year.
Bonnie Lee says
I have never heard of Donors Choose. I am going to check it out now!
Susan Taylor says
DonorsChoose is great. I have a niece who teaches in poor rural area. I have donated on this site to help her out.
Linda G. says
I didn’t know about this donation, my church donates to a school and teachers that are local
Nicole C says
Yes, I have considered it.
Courtney says
I think it’s a great idea to help teachers out.
shelly peterson says
Yes I have considered donating. There are several schools in my area in need that I am interested in.
Crystal F says
We donated to my daughter’s fourth grade teacher when she wanted some special history books. Thank you!
Lauren U says
Absolutely I would!
Becca says
ive never considered it because I had never heard of it before.
Tabathia B says
Yes I have considered it
Ashley C says
Yes. I have donated on donors choose before!
barbg says
No I have not considered that before today but it is nice to have around. I would like to try sonic.
Janine Hwang says
My son will start kinder this fall, and then I hope to consider it
Susan Smith says
I didn’t know about DonorsChoose. I would consider donating to this fund.
Christina Almond says
No…I didn’t know about it but I love the idea!
Deb Ford says
I’m a teacher and I’ve never heard of this….so interesting!!
Rachel Travis says
I haven’t, but it seems great!
aaron reck says
I have not, but would consider it. I actually know a lot of teachers and I’ve tried to help them in ways. Donating items or little bits of money. The systems seem overwhelmed with need and these are the kids and the future.
Maritza says
Yes, I would donate.
Anita Duvall says
I have considered donating to one of the causes at DonorsChoose. We live in a very small town in Arkansas and there is one request from a teacher listed from our school district.
Leela says
I haven’t considered it before.
cyndi br says
I would consider donating through donors choose but have not used them yet
Fredrick Pauly says
I have not considered it.
Sarah Cool says
I had never heard of this before but now I will since my sister is a teacher
Lisa V. says
I’ve never heard of DonorsChoose.
Melissa Storms says
I really didn’t know about Donor’s Choice, but now that I do I have found several teachers in my area and I would love to donate.
Tara says
Yes! I donated $50 to my son’s classroom so they could get reading books!
Kristen says
Yes I have donated to a local classroom through Donors Choose.
brandy c says
I have donated before on DonorsChoose. A local preschool needed funding for a new printer.
Elena says
I have not considered because I have never heard of Donors Choose
Chrissy says
I have not considered donating before because I had not heard of Donors Choose. When I checked out the website it looks super cool though and I would definitely consider using it now!
susan smoaks says
no i haven’t ever considered it. i would like to check it out now though. this is the first i have heard of it.
Julie Bickham says
I never thought of it before because I didn’t realize you could do it. This is great!
Denise B. says
No, I have not; but if I did it would be to the private Christian school in which we homeschool through.
courtney hennagir says
I love donors choose and have donated to several different projects! It’s so fun to look through all the different schools and projects.I like to fund some in my hometown sometimes.I highly recommend checking them out!
Shakeia Rieux says
I haven’t thought about it until now since I learned about Donors Choose.
DeAnna Keller says
I have thought about it and have already picked out a cause that i’m interested in donating to.
Wendi says
i never heard of it but i think a few more should consider!
Luna S says
I would love to be able to donate! First I need to find a better paying job.
Sarah VM says
I have donated to a teacher on donor’s choose.
Jennifer Marie says
I have not donated, but would be interested in looking into this more.
Tom Shewbridge says
I never knew about the program, but very interested in it now that I have heard about it.
heather Kaufman says
I haven’t heard of it before, but I love helping the teachers.
Tina W says
Two of my nieces are teachers in high poverty areas and both have done Donors Choose campaigns for classroom items.
Renee Grosskreuz says
I am not a teacher.I have never heard of this before today.
BIRDIE SKOLFIELD says
No I have not but looks like a worthy cause
Wendy says
I hadn’t heard of this before, but it sounds wonderful! Will definitely utilize whether I win or not!
jenny says
I just recently heard about this and can’t believe that both my children’s schools are part of this! I am getting more information and seeing what we can do to help!
BusyWorkingMama says
I donated once, and it was nice to get comments back from the teacher about it!
elizabeth miller says
I wasn’t aware of it until this post. I have always just donated directly.
Dan H says
Yes I donated once before
Julieh says
I have been considering it.
Cathy B. says
I have donated several times.
Judy Gregory says
I didn’t know about this program until now.
Robin says
Donors Choose id new to me, so I haven’t thought about giving to my son’s teacher.
Ed says
I have never heard of this until now.
Stephanie Liske says
I have not considered it. I didn’t even know it was a thing.
Gina Ferrell says
Yes, I have donated to a teacher via Donors Choose before.
Breanne says
I had not heard of it until now.
Tiffany Steele says
I’ve considered donating to a teacher via DonorsChoose when I saw that teachers don’t always receive the supplies they need to do their jobs.
Kristi C says
I had not, I had never heard of it before.
Edye says
I had never heard of ti prior to this post.
Kelly Grant says
No. I have never heard of it.
DanV says
I haven’t yet
Kayla Klontz says
Yes, I think it’s a great idea for so many great causes.
Sarah L says
I didn’t know about them before this.
Thanks for the contest.
Louis A Davila says
There are a few local schools here that I saw on that list that I would love to help out!
Shakeia Rieux says
I’m not sure if the tweet entry got the whole url to my tweet, here it is just in case. https://mobile.twitter.com/BBBNEYS27/status/987949851840139264
Kayla S. says
I didn’t know about Donors Choose until a couple of months ago. I’ve considered it.
clynsg says
Have not done so via this program, but have donated to local drives by schools/teachers.
Erin M says
This is the first i’ve heard of it.
Eileen Boyce says
I never heard of it before. Thanks for telling me.
Buddy Garrett says
This is the first time I have heard of DonorsChoose. I would consider donating.
Kathleen Hand says
I haven’t because I have 3 children in high school which equals 12 different teachers each semester as well as at least 2 different sports each semester which equals hundreds of dollars of donations each semester. I have plenty to donate to until they are out of school.
angie depue says
Not yet. But I am seriously considering!
Jerry Marquardt says
I haven’t thought of it yet, but I do donate a lot, so the cause looks very good!
vivian blevins says
no its new to me.
Juanita May says
I did not know about Donors Choose. We do the box tops for our school, but I have never donated directly.
Ae Minx says
We used to donate items to the classroom, but after considerable bullying to my child and zero help from the school we pulled him out and started homeschooling
Jennifer says
Sorry to hear that! 🙁
Amy Deeter says
No i have never considered donating to a teacher via DonorsChoose because this is my first time hearing about it
Philip Lawrence says
No, probably because I never heard of the program until now.
Donna L says
I have never heard of it before. I would have to do more research.
allison says
I have not! Thanks so much for the opportunity.
Julie R says
I haven’t, but think it’s a good idea
Cliff Plummer says
I have not known about it before,but I’d definitely consider it!
Cassandra D says
Yes, I have considered donating to a teacher via DonorsChoose.
Jessica Herndon says
I haven’t ever thought about donating since I wasn’t aware of it but will look into it now thank you.
Leah Shumack says
I haven’t donated before but learned about it when we at a fundraiser for the next town over and they are trying to raise money for a new playground at their elementary school!
Maria Beas says
I have not. This is the first time I hear about Donorschoose but I will definitely do it in the near future. Thanks for the chance to win such an amazing giveaway.
Laurie Emerson says
I have donated before. It is such a worthy cause!
BRYAN E. says
Saw a recent mention on The Late Show – Stephen Colbert re DonorsChoose; an interesting crowdfunding option to support teachers & kids locally !
Trisha McKee says
yes. My daughter has had a great teacher that has inspired her and gave her a slight push down a path that has changed her life.
Donna porter says
I have donated before to this and it is a great cause.
Sand says
This is the first time I’ve heard of this!
AEKZ2 says
I have donated to my son’s teacher on Donors Choose