Our Story
We have been supplying books, school supplies, and hope around the globe since 2014
Our mission is to promote global literacy by giving school supplies and books a second life.
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Supplying Hope Around the Globe was founded in 2014 by two sisters, Insha and Sheza Merchant. The sisters had heard stories of children around the world whose families could afford only a single pencil that would be shared by everyone in the household and used until it was a mere stub. At the same time, the Merchant sisters saw an abundance of pencils, pens, crayons, markers, etc. accumulating in their own home as they, like many of their peers, were fortunate to get brand new school supplies at the beginning of each school year. Noticing this discrepancy, they decided to take action!
They got approval from their school administration and set up collection boxes at their school at the end of the academic year. Instead of taking these used supplies home, or even worse, throwing away their perfectly usable school supplies, any students wishing to donate their gently used school supplies could easily do so. In just a couple of days, the collection bins were overflowing and over 400 pounds of school supplies were collected, sorted, and donated locally to unhoused students. The sisters never imagined that they would get such an incredible and generous response!
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Encouraged by this, Insha and Sheza decided to repeat this collection drive at the end of the following school year. Again, the bins were overflowing as teachers encouraged their students to donate their used school supplies. Many teachers also added items to the bins including books and teaching materials which were delivered to schools serving underprivileged students in the US, Pakistan and Haiti.
The school supply drive has now become an annual tradition, and over the last eight years, with the help of our global partners, over 4,200 pounds of gently used pencils, pens, markers, crayons, rulers, calculators, and more have been kept out of landfills and have been placed in the backpacks of over 5,000 underprivileged and refugee school students.
Over the last several years, Supplying Hope has also been collecting new and used children’s books. These books have helped equip numerous school libraries around the world. Many books have also been given to individual children, who otherwise have few material possessions, and are proud to have something of their own. Insha and Sheza hope that this joy and pride encourages these students towards education and literacy. Supplying Hope Around the Globe has collected and delivered over 4,000 used children’s books, which would have otherwise been collecting dust on bookshelves or ended up in landfills. Now these books are read over and over again and they help students develop literacy and English fluency.
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