Lakeland business helps teachers with free supplies

Lakeland, Florida - A Polk County business owner learned her granddaughter's kindergarten teacher is short on supplies and it turns out she is not alone.

"As a taxpayer, I'm disappointed the money collected for school expenses is not passed down to the teacher," says Brenda Wise, owner of GLT Office Supplies in Lakeland. She and her staff took a look at their stock room and realized they could help.

On Wednesday, GLT will open its doors to Polk County teachers for a second time in a month. Up for grabs are stacks of paper, pencils, paper clips, folders, staplers, binders, and much more. Some are simple items teachers often need, especially those teaching kids with special needs, like Dawn Mayo at Lake Region High School.

"The dots are good for behaviors and for cutting in half and using as highlighters in textbooks," explains Mayo.

Mayo picked the items up for free two weeks ago and shared the supplies with eight other teachers at school. "It's been pretty rough not receiving pay raises and steps. It's hard, the economy hitting hard on all of us teachers and staff. We're just happy to have GLT nearby," she says.

"This will be gone in 15 minutes," predicts Wise. She recalls the first time they opened their doors to teachers. "When I came to work, the parking lot was full of people. The lines were up along the outside like going to a Macy's sale."

The next giveaway isn't as large as the first, but Wise says there's plenty to go around.

"I'm concerned teachers don't have what they basically need and most have come here, say they spend $1,000 to $3,000 of personal money for school supplies every year, that's quite a dedication," says Wise.

GLT has purged more than $40,000 in office supplies. They encourage other local businesses to check their stockroom and see what they can share with teachers.

Mayo has her boxes ready for her next trip to GLT and the name tags of another half dozen teachers to shop for at GLT.

GLT is located at 2929 South Combee Road in Lakeland. The teacher office supply giveaway is from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Polk County teachers are required to bring their identification badges.

The Polk Education Foundation says it will likely open a location where teachers can shop for needed items and GLT will help supply it with its excess stock.