Partnership with Kids in Need Foundation and Yoobi brings school supplies to Leech Lake Reservation

In the fall of 2014 a new partnership formed through connections we had with our partner the Animal Humane Society. We were put in contact with Jeanne Mock, Director of National Accounts for Kids in Need Foundation. One connection, and conversation, led to another ...

... and it wasn't long before it became apparent that there was a real need for school supplies for schools on Leech Lake Reservation. We were asked if we had a contact on Leech Lake Reservation, and would there be a way for us to get the school supplies to the schools up at Leech Lake Reservation. Leech Lake Legacy believes in collaboration, in partnership and in building bridges. Helping the children and teachers of Leech Lake Reservation was a natural extension of our belief in the importance of community. The very beginnings of Leech Lake Legacy involved helping the animals .... through our relationships and friendships with residents, tribal leaders and band members of Leech Lake Reservation, we have learned that everything we do MUST be about community. And community is about people AND animals.

We soon learned of the partnership Kids in Need Foundation had with a organization, Yoobi and their Yoobi Classroom Packs. The classroom packs contain the most fundamental tools needed for learning and creativity and each pack contains supplies for a classroom of 30.

This week, my vehicle is packed to the brim with 25 Yoobi Classroom Packs. We will get the packs up to Leech Lake Reservation and into the hands of teachers at Cass Lake Elementary and the King School. And yes, more packs will be on their way up in the not too distant future.

A heartfelt thanks to Kids in Need Foundation and to Yoobi for providing teachers and students on Leech Lake Indian Reservation with much needed school supplies.

miigwech,
Marilou
President/Co-Founder, Leech Lake Legacy

WHAT IS YOOBI????

YOOBI tells who they are and what they do in their own words . . .

Yoobi, pronounced “you-be,” is a new colorful and vibrant school supply brand that makes learning fun while also giving back. We create and sell supplies for the school, home or office, and for every item you buy directly from us or one of our retail partners, we donate a Yoobi item to a classroom in need right here in the U.S. Our goal is to perk up the school supply aisle, and help solve a big problem along the way. Yoobi is a for-profit company with giving integrated into its core mission.

Our goal is to one day provide free school supplies to all classrooms that lack access to basic learning tools. Yoobi was founded on the belief that: (1) access to fundamental school supplies should be within reach of all kids, no matter what ZIP code they come from, (2) teachers should not have to spend money out of their own pockets in order to provide those supplies, and (3) each and every one of us can make a difference.

For every Yoobi item you purchase, one Yoobi item (based on classroom need) is contributed to a Yoobi Classroom Pack, which is donated through one of our donation partners to a classroom in need right here in the U.S. Donated items may include pencils, glue sticks, erasers, rulers, folders, crayons, colored pencils or other items. “One for you, one for me” is what kids say on the playground and at snack time. It’s how they learn to share, and play fair. Now they can make those choices as consumers, picking out some practical Yoobi goodies with you by their side.

Our founder, Ido Leffler, came up with the “Yoobi” idea after a trip down the school supply aisle with his two daughters. He noticed that the wall of products felt like it hadn’t been updated since he was in junior high. He found himself wondering; what if the school supply aisle grabbed kids interest like the toy aisle? Plus, Ido has visited dozens of public schools and found the classrooms to be either institutionally austere, or colorful wonderlands covered in kids’ art. In the wonderlands, he’d learned that many of the teachers had paid for supplies out of their own pockets: a real problem we need to solve. Ido thought, why not develop a line of cool school supplies that engage kids, while helping others?

Ido was thinking of a way to get people excited about what we were about to embark on, and kept going back to the notion of inspiring people to be whoever they want to be…he thought, You be the difference. You be great. You be awesome! You be YOU. Yoobi! What better name for a cute, nation-changing toucan? Yoobi’s goal is to inspire kids to be whomever and whatever they want to be, and give them the tools they need to do it.

We love working with our non-profit partners! We have partnered with the Kids In Need Foundation to ensure that our school supplies reach the classrooms demonstrating the greatest need. Kids In Need Foundation is in its twentieth year of providing free school supplies to 4.2 million children and 120,000 teachers annually through a network of 34 Resource Centers across the U.S. 

Lesley Walton and Jeanne Mock of Kids in Need Foundation
pack my car with Classroom Packs!