Astoria Teacher Fundraises To Help Students Keep Their Pants On

ASTORIA, QUEENS -- An Astoria teacher wants to make sure her elementary school students keep their bottoms on, and she needs your help to do it.

Paige Benson is a special education teacher at P.S. 17 Henry David Thoreau School, and she knows sometimes accidents happen. That's why she wants to stock up on a supply of extra pants for her students at the Title 1 school, just in case.

"Usually after a certain age, schools don't ask parents to send in a change of clothes...or for whatever reason the child doesn't have one in the building," Benson told Patch.

She launched "Help Us Keep Our Pants On" on DonorsChoose.org, a crowdfunding website designed for teachers, to raise enough money for dozens of "emergency" pairs of pants for her students.

"As the saying goes, kids will be kids, and sometimes kids rip their pants," Benson writes on the site. "Young kids also can potentially have accidents, and as a school our goal is to not allow small occurrences like this (to) ruin a child's day."

Benson set a precise $985.07 goal for the fundraiser, which is exactly the amount of money needed to buy 91 pairs of girls' and boys' pants in a range of sizes from Amazon. That includes 41 pairs of sweatpants in sizes XS - XL and 50 pairs of dress pants in sizes 4 - 14.

"The goal is to ensure that if a child needs a pair of pants...we can provide them with a pair on the spot to keep them comfortable and get them back to class," she said.

It's resonated with fellow teachers, parents and community members alike, who have raised more than $400 - nearly half the goal - since Benson first submitted the project to DonorsChoose.org on April 12. Salesforce.org, a nonprofit computer company, even offered to match each dollar donated to the fundraiser.

Benson will only receive the funds if her goal is met by Aug. 11, but the support she's received in just a month puts that goal well within reach.

"We receive donations from all over the country," she said. "There's no telling who will be interested in helping."

The pants fundraiser is just one of several Benson has launched this school year in hopes of creating a community closet for students at P.S. 17. The hats, gloves, scarves, underwear and socks that now stock that closet were crowdfunded by three other projects she launched on DonorsChoose.org.

"This project that you saw is the final piece of the puzzle," she said.

Benson said she's used DonorsChoose.org since 2012 to fund everything from classroom books and furniture, to school movie outings to new technology. For each new item students receive, they gladly craft thank you cards to the donors that helped fund it.

"My students are always thrilled to receive new items in our classroom and look forward to opening boxes when they arrive," she said.

"They are always curious as to who helps us to obtain these materials, and we are all genuinely thankful that so many people in the community want to help in so many ways."

(Lead photo via Shutterstock)