Pictured are books donated by The Teacher’s Desk and donated to about 2,000 Jamestown Public Schools students. Submitted photo

The Teacher’s Desk donated 2,000 Disney books to the Jamestown Public Schools as part of their Books ‘n Bites program, which has donated over 70,000 books through their Disney4Dessert program to school districts across Western New York.

“We are so appreciative of this donation of Disney books for our elementary school students,” said JPS Director of Schools Tina Sandstrom. “To ensure every child receives a book, we included them in the educational packets that will be distributed on May 4th and May 5th at each elementary school. We are so thrilled that every child in a Jamestown elementary school will receive a new book thanks to the Teacher’s Desk Buffalo. We cannot say how much their generosity means to our district and our kids during this difficult time.”

Teacher’s Desk Buffalo is hoping to provide 100,000 Disney books by the end of May to Western New York schools through their Books ‘n Bites program.

“Many Jamestown teachers shop at the Teacher’s Desk and we wanted to put a smile on teachers’ and kids’ faces in Western New York by giving Disney books during this time,” said John Mika, founder of the Teacher’s Desk. “So far, we have shipped Disney books to over 250 schools in Western New York. We are thrilled to help our community.”

The Teacher’s Desk is a store where teachers shop free for school supplies, books and teacher resources for students in 250 WNY schools in need. Its mission is to distribute free school supplies to students in need, to encourage teachers and to provide purpose through volunteerism.

Mr. Mika, a retired autoworker, was working as a substitute teacher in urban and suburban schools and saw firsthand the difference in classroom supplies when comparing city to suburbs. Even the basics like pencils, pens and paper were desperately lacking in classroom after classroom in schools serving students in need.

The Teacher’s Desk opened in October 2011 and annually distributes over $6,000,000 in new school supplies to 6,000 teachers located at 250 schools serving 150,000 students in need throughout the Western New York community.