Video Site and Philanthropy Group Partner To Aid Schools in Need

• By Scott Aronowitz
• 11/18/09

My Teacher, My Hero, a social video site that highlights the differences teachers make in the lives of their students, has partnered with DonorsChoose.org, an online charity, to bring aid for educational projects and school supplies.

For the remainder of the month of November, anyone--students, parents, professionals, even other teachers--can visit MyTeacherMyHero.com and post their own digital home videos in which they thank a favorite teacher. Everyone who posts a video will receive a $25 "Giving Card" from DonorsChoose.org, and the recipients can then go to the site and decide to which of the posted projects they want to apply their reward.

My Teacher, My Hero was launched in October with a wide range of celebrities and other successful individuals in various fields posting their own thank-you videos to teachers. Some of those who participated included Howard Stern, Kathie Lee Gifford, hip hop pioneer and record company executive Russell Simmons, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, Apollo 11 crew member Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, MLB Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, TV personality Sherri Shepherd, former treasury secretary Robert Rubin, and the CEOs of Warner Bros., Ford Motor Co., and HBO.

DonorsChoose.org gives schools and classes throughout the country a venue to highlight specific projects they wish to pursue and to request donations for the supplies and other expenses they'll
need to cover in order to pursue them. Visitors to the site can search for projects by school, teacher, geographic location, degree of need, or keyword and then read an explanation of each project and its specific requirements. They can then enter an amount to donate to in order to help fund that project.

Requests on the site range from one as basic as ensuring students in a high-poverty area in Southern California consistently have the colored pens and notebooks they need to learn science, at a total cost of $537, to one as creative as a teacher in Oregon who wants to help students learn to read, write, and express themselves by creating memoirs using digital photography, with the six cameras she needs for the project running a total of $468.

The site guarantees that each donation will be passed on to the project specified by the donor, giving contributors an opportunity not only to make a difference in helping to educate America's children, but to understand exactly the difference they are making and decide for themselves where they want their money to go.

"Partnering with My Teacher, My Hero is a natural fit, since they share in the ultimate mission of improving the educational experience for students nationwide," said Charles Best, founder of DonorsChoose.org. "Both of our organizations strive to make it a personal experience that's easy to get involved with--whether it is contributing a small donation to a project you believe in, or simply thanking a teacher who has impacted your life or career path in some way."

Further information can be found here.