The Madison Needs Network is committed to making sure that every child in our community arrives at school prepared for learning, as we believe this is an essential component of a thriving community. We help our community's learners to succeed by providing their needed school supplies and high-interest books. Half of all students enrolled in the Madison Metropolitan School District live below the poverty line; the financial burden of purchasing school supplies is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for families in need.

 

Madison Needs Network's School Readiness Campaign starts each school year by hosting a pop-up store at Black Hawk Middle School (a school whose low-income enrollment rate is upwards of 70%), where all students from across the Madison school district are welcome to shop for their school supplies free of cost.

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Our inaugural pop-up store included over 6,000 units of school supplies! Within three years we expanded our capacity for shoppers and opened up the pop-up store to all students in the Madison school district! In 2018, our shoppers were able to choose from over 500 brand new backpacks and fill them with notebooks, folders, pencils, glue sticks, scissors, markers, calculators, etc. Mid-school year, Madison Needs Network also fulfills individual school supply restock requests. Last year as part of our January School Readiness restock, Madison Needs Network purchased Welcoming Schools book sets for 16 elementary schools in Madison. 

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Interested in becoming a School Readiness sponsor or hosting a supply drive to help us stock our store? Connect with Madison Needs Network today to help us express our dedication to each and every student in our community!