When the state of Idaho began staying home due to COVID19 at the end of March and schools began remote distance learning, the Idaho Lottery knew there had to be some way we could help.
During the first days at home, it was easy to see what needed to be done. Teachers around the state were trying to figure out how to teach remotely with little time to prepare. Since it is our mission to support Idaho Public Schools, we knew we needed to support them now more than ever before.
When our Classroom Wishlist program launched in the winter of 2019, it was a monthly program with a $2,000 cap. We would post Classroom Wishlists each month on the 15th, and our VIP Club members would donate points towards the projects. In the first year, we funded more than $17,000 worth of Wishlists for Idaho students and teachers.
Last month, we ramped up the program. We decided we would fund as many projects as we could each week until the end of the school year.
We posted our first Wishlists on Monday, April 13. We were looking to fund a new camcorder for the Genesee Elementary School Library (so they could stream storytime for all their students stuck at home!), cups of caterpillars for first graders at Priest Lake Elementary School and *1,000* manila envelopes for teachers and staff at Wendell Elementary School.
We posted the Wishlists at 1 p.m. MT, and our VIP Club had used their points to fund ALL the projects in under 20 minutes. Since then, over 144,000 points have been donated towards everything from art supplies to books. After that, teachers work quickly to get the supplies to their students, spread out all over the state.
“We are so grateful to those helping fulfill our Wish List!” said Genesee Librarian Heidi Waisanen. “We now have a camcorder to take our library story time on the road. I’ve been able to record stories from my home as well as our deserted baseball field. We are getting amazing responses from our community. It is a wonderful way for us to connect virtually with our kids, as well as staff.”
The Idaho Lottery and our VIP Club will continue to fund Classroom Wishlists weekly through the end of May. After that, we will continue to fund one Classroom Wishlist per month. To learn more about the program, visit www.IdahoLottery.com/Wishlist.
