Teachers and students return to school, and Brighton businesses support them with free supplies

BRIGHTON — Two Brighton businesses are giving back to teachers locally — and across the country — by purchasing supplies listed on the instructors'Amazon classroom wish lists.

Each year, teachers nationwide spend their own money to acquire supplies for their classrooms, according to the National Education Association.

This year, according to a Deloitte back-to-school survey, 37% of parents expect to spend more on school supplies than in 2021-22. Overall it's an 8% annual increase, or $661 per child versus $612 in 2021, according to a press release from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Foguth Financial Group and Beeyond Treasures, both located in Brighton, and their employees are supporting teachers by fulfilling classroom wish lists posted on Amazon.com and shared on social media. Foguth is conducting dailies drawings, while Beeyond is soliciting wish lists through its Facebook page.

The local efforts are just some of the ways people are trying to alleviate the higher costs of returning to school.

As a way to help all Michigan families, Whitmer proposed suspending the Michigan sales tax on school supplies as part of her MI Back to School Plan.

“As families gear up for the school year, they should be able to get what they need without spending too much money out of pocket,” Whitmer said. “Getting this done would lower costs for parents, teachers, and students right now, and ensure that they have the resources to succeed. I will work with anyone to lower costs, cut taxes, and help our kids thrive."

Foguth Financial Gives Back

Mike Foguth, president and Founder of Foguth Financial Group, has six children and said he understands how expensive school supplies can be. Through buying supplies, like wipes and tissues, for his children's classrooms, he and his wife realized they wanted to give back to their own children's teachers, and others as well.

Foguth his employees are giving away $5,000 in school supplies, spread among winners of their daily drawing, which is taking place through Friday, to teachers who supplied their Amazon classroom supply wish lists.

The first winner of the drawing was Tami Heinonen, a ninth grade English, newspaper and yearbook teacher at Brighton Area Schools. Heinonen has been teaching for 22 years, 11 at Brighton.

Heinonen said she received the email notifying her that she had won and didn't think it was real. She deleted it because she thought it was a scam. Once she realized it was real, she said, she got choked up.

"I was floored. I was really genuinely humbled," Heinonen said. "I honestly thought I would get some colored paper out of the deal, so it was really exciting. I'm excited for my kids more than anything."

In the past, Foguth said, his company's efforts have gone toward supporting students directly, such as giving away 50 or more backpacks. This time his company wanted to do something to specifically support teachers.

"For me, everybody learns differently and when you talk to these teachers, 'Well if I can buy these little cubes we can do math differently and the kids will connect better if we had this resource or if we have these baggy books they can take home, that we didn't have before they will be better readers,'" Foguth said, highlighting examples of what teachers might say. "That's what is really cool because otherwise you have to just use the resources you have rather than purchasing more that is better connecting with them."

Foguth said teachers across the country can enter the giveaway, but teachers in the community, like Heinonen, may benefit as well.

"It's our community. It's what it is all about. I hope it inspires others. If they see someone's wish list on there, it doesn't have to be a lot. Spend $20 and help a teacher out right in our community," he said. "It's helping the teacher, but really at the end of the day it's helping the student learn in a different way that they can connect with that maybe they couldn't do before," Foguth said.

Beeyond Treasures Gives Back

Another Brighton business using its resources to help teachers is Beeyond Treasures, at 6111 Grand River Road.

On Aug. 1, Beeyond Treasures owner Mandy Haynes posted on her Facebook page asking teachers to comment with their Amazon classroom supply wish lists. Her hope was to help out a few teachers.

During the year, Haynes said, the business conducts fundraisers for organizations, including collecting supplies for the Hurley Medical Center in Flint, such as toys and other things.

However, with school starting, Haynes wanted to do something that supports teachers. She said she has seen some of her friends who are teachers post their wish lists on Facebook and thought it would be a good way to give back.

The response was overwhelming, with more than 350 comments and more than 170 wish lists provided on the post.

"Initially, I was thinking we would definitely get some, but I thought about 30 maybe," Haynes said. "It just immediately went crazy. It was nonstop comment notifications. We have out-of-state teachers there, too."

Haynes said she's spent about $500 to support teachers and knows her customers and vendors have looked through the lists and made purchases themselves. Haynes, who has two children, said she definitely feels the school supply inflation this year.

"Everything was quite expensive this year. Just for their supplies and I always send them with a little goodie bag to for teacher items that they need," Haynes said.

Interested teachers can still post their Amazon classroom supply wish list on the Beeyond Treasures Facebook page here.

"We value the teachers. We value anybody who is teaching kids. We love how much they put into it because I know its a very hard job and we just want all the teachers to know that we appreciate them," Haynes said.

Contact Livingston Daily reporter Patricia Alvord at palvord@livingstondaily.com about news coverage.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Foguth Financial Group, Beeyond Treasures buy supplies for teachers