Kudos to Molly Gustafson, a pre-kindergarten teacher at Temple Elementary School in the Falconer Central School District, for her work spearheading the Temple Sunshine Closet.

The non-profit’s mission is to help alleviate hunger, improper clothing or a lack of necessary hygiene products for students to help get the children’s school careers off on the right foot. The organization has received 501(c)(3) status and has an independent board, of which Gustafson is president, to allow the group to receive outside grants for supplies.

“It’s an awesome project and undertaking to provide resources for our families, not only at Temple, but throughout the Falconer School district,” said Steve Penhollow, Falconer superintendent. “For [Gustafson] to take on this challenge, and to be the leader of this program, I think is something that the board and I very much applaud.”

We couldn’t agree more. Gustafson sees the issues that many teachers see in the classroom each day. But not many go through the process to create a charitable organization in an attempt to help deal with those issues. She deserves credit for her initiative – as does the Falconer Central School District for encouraging Gustafson’s side project.

But, as has been the case for decades, teachers are taking it upon themselves to fill gaps that society isn’t filling. It’s ludicrous, for all the money that New York spends on education and social services, that teachers have to spend money on classroom supplies or, in the case of Molly Gustafson, have to spend their time finding outside funding to help fill gaps that the existing social services system isn’t filling.

Not all school districts have a Molly Gustafson with the time and ability to create something like the Temple Sunshine Closet. In our view, though, teachers shouldn’t be put in this position in the first place. New York devotes enough money to social services and education funding that the extraordinary efforts of teachers like Gustafson shouldn’t be necessary – even though they are certainly appreciated by a grateful community.