Strangers gifting teachers supplies with #clearthelist

The first day of school is less than a week away and a social media trend is helping teachers fill their classrooms with supplies.

Teachers nationwide are sharing their Amazon Wish Lists with the #clearthelist #clearthelists and #supportateacher hashtags.

Sarah McDonald teaches second grade at Bonita Springs Elementary School and says she spends $500-$1,000 annually on teaching supplies.

But this year, she decided to make it a group effort and created a shareable Wish List.

“I was really surprised to see so many packages at my door. One day the Amazon driver did make a comment that I was ordering too much,” McDonald said.

But it wasn’t McDonald making all those orders.

Complete strangers and family members donated all one hundred children’s books on McDonald’s Wish list. A value she says is over $500.

“It makes more of an impact than they probably realize,” McDonald said.

The clear the list or support a teacher trend started as a pay-it-forward idea, with teachers gifting each other items.

But the movement gained momentum and now community members are joining in. McDonald’s even localized effort creating the Facebook group Teacher Amazon Gifting: Lee County, FL.

“We have people (teachers) that have had 1-3 items funded, and we’ve have people who had their whole list cleared.”

Even celebrities and musicians are taking to Twitter to #clearthelists. While the surprise porch packages were great, McDonald can’t wait for her kids to see everything.

“They’re going to walk in and be so excited to see a brand new library.”