SONIC’s Christi Woodworth & DonorsChoose.org’s Charles Best On “Limeades For Learning”

Teachers taught you to read, and if you were listening during math, they probably also taught you that $1 BILLION — the amount spent annually by public school teachers on classroom supplies from their own pockets — is A LOT of money! From basic classroom essentials like chairs to technology-related items like Chromebooks, public school teachers across the nation continuously (and selflessly) pour their own resources into creating engaging learning environments.

Classroom materials are needed year-round, and passionate teachers have endless ideas to inspire creativity and learning in classrooms, but where can teachers go to get help funding these resources?

Enter SONIC’s Limeades For Learning initiative with philanthropic partner, DonorsChoose.org, a crowdfunding platform created to assist teachers who need funding for classroom enrichment projects. Since the launch of DonorsChoose.org in 2003, more than 1.4 million classroom projects have been funded. SONIC’s Limeades for Learning initiative launched in 2009, putting philanthropic dollars in the hands of guests to help fund public school teacher projects. Through this partnership, SONIC has donated more than $13 million, supported more than 33,000 projects, and provided necessary learning materials and teaching resources to impact over 1 million students.

Launched on September 30 and running through October 27, readers of The Hype can help determine how the brand should donate $1 million to teachers by visiting Limeades For Learning and voting daily for the teachers they want to support through this campaign.

Charles Best (founder of DonorsChoose.org) and Christi Woodworth (vice president of public relations at SONIC) answered questions from me on September 25, 2019, as embedded below.

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About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."