Educators served since 2021

In supplies giving away

$ 0 M

Items distributed in 2024–25

0 K+

About the Drive

Who can host? Anyone.

Individuals, businesses, faith groups, neighborhoods, sports teams — all are welcome. Choose the format that works for you.

Closed drive

Within your organization

Collect supplies internally — your location won’t be listed publicly. Great for companies running an internal campaign.

Open drive

Open to the public

Your drop-off location is listed publicly on our website so community members can bring supplies directly to you.

New this year

Back-to-School Supply Drive Competition

Every item donated earns points. The more your team collects, the bigger the recognition — from a social media shoutout all the way to a plaque at our Stars of Education Gala.

Valedictorian

Most points

Dean’s List

1,000 pts

Honor Roll

500 pts

Excellence Award

200 pts

Most items = 1 point each. Some small items (pencils, pens, binder clips, etc.) are counted in groups of 10 per point. Dry erase markers, highlighters, and similar items = 4 per point. A sorting sheet is required to enter the competition — it calculates your total automatically.

Drop off during June 1–30 with a completed sorting sheet and receive an automatic +50 point bonus. Year-round schools need supplies early!

How it works

Four steps to host a drive

You can get started in an afternoon. Here’s the full process.

Register your drive

Choose open or closed, then fill out the registration form so we can track our community partner count.

Promote it

Use our ready-made flyers, share on social media, and place a visible collection bin. Need graphics? Just ask.

Sort & count

Gather your team, count donations, and fill out your sorting sheet. Required if you want competition points!

Drop off donations

Deliver to 1816 Capital Blvd, Raleigh. Large donations? Email us to schedule. Drop bins are accessible 24/7.

Download the full Supply Drive Toolkit

Includes the complete competition guide, point-scoring breakdown, ready-to-print wish lists, fillable flyers, and social media templates — everything you need to run a great drive.

Ways to Get involved

Donate

Tools4Schools is made possible by our generous community partners, donors, and corporate sponsors.

Host a Drive

We invite individuals, groups, and organizations to collect new and gently used classroom supplies for Tools4Schools.

Volunteer

WakeEd Partnership needs volunteers to help unpack and sort supplies, stock shelves, answer teacher questions, and more.

Back to School with Tools4Schools is our community-wide school supply drive to stock the shelves and warehouse at Tools4Schools. This year, more than 100 community partners signed up to be supply drive hosts during the back to school season! Additionally, several businesses and organizations are holding their own school supply drives to collect items for Tools4Schools.

Tools4Schools is open to teachers year-round, which means we are always looking for community partners to host supply drives! This past school year WakeEd’s Tools4Schools served more than 5,000 teachers representing 100% of the schools in the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS). In a recent survey, 94% of those teachers said Tools4Schools has reduced their out-of-pocket spending. Our teachers spend on average more than $1,000 each year on basic school supplies for their classroom and students. Since we opened Tools4Schools in 2022, we have given away more than $2 million is new school supplies to Wake County teachers.

school supply DRIVE 2026

Details coming soon!

DROP BOX LOCATIONS

Coming Soon!

Tools4Schools, 1816 Capital Blvd, Raleigh, NC 27604

Gladwell Orthodontics Locations:

Wake Forest Location: 2824 Rogers Road, Suite 200, Wake Forest, NC
Rolesville Location: 101 Redford Place Drive, Rolesville, NC
Downtown Raleigh Location: 510 Glenwood Avenue, Suite 100, Raleigh, NC
North Raleigh Location: 13271 Strickland Road, Suite 100, Raleigh, NC

Spring Arbor Assisted Living: 1705 Kildaire Farm Rd., Cary, NC

The Bachhubers: 612 Hollymont Dr., Holly Springs, NC

Crosspointe Church: 6911 Carpenter Fire Station Rd., Cary, NC

Buffaloe Lanes Cary: 151 High House Rd., Cary, NC

Towne Bank: 7100 Falls of Neuse Rd., Raleigh, NC

Grubb Ventures: 3700 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh, NC

Big Frog Custom T-Shirts & More of Raleigh: 6675 Falls of Neuse Rd., Ste. 107, Raleigh, NC

Raleigh Specific Chiropractic: 7721 Six Forks Road, Raleigh, NC

Allen Tate Realty: 3612 Rogers Branch Road, Wake Forest, NC

South Cary Dental: 530 New Waverly Place, Suite 302, Cary, NC

West Shore Home – 1203 N New Hope Rd, Raleigh, NC

Sanderson Men’s Lacrosse Team – 1213 Coldstream Ct., Raleigh, NC

The Sekars: 1620 Wilde Bend, Apex, NC

New Beginning Christian Fellowship Church: 111 Towerview Ct., Cary, NC

Costello Real Estate: 911 Paverstone Dr. STE A Raleigh, NC

Choice Residential Real Estate: 225 N. Salem St., #113, Apex, NC

Stonebridge Neighborhood: 2400 Heartley Dr., Raleigh, NC

Carolina Ale House Cary: 2240 Walnut Street, Cary, NC

Purvi Shah Realty: 213 China Grove Ct., Holly Springs, NC

Staples stores – all Wake County Locations:

1391 Kildaire Farm Road, Cary, NC
921 E. Broad Street, Fuquay-Varina, NC
8041 Brier Creek Parkway, Raleigh, NC
3064 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh, NC
11845 Retail Drive, Wake Forest, NC
1220 Timber Drive East, Garner, NC

YMCA Wake County Locations:

E. Finley YMCA, 9216 Baileywick Road, Raleigh, NC
Kerr Family YMCA, 2500 Wakefield Pines Dr, Raleigh, NC
Taylor Family YMCA, 101 YMCA Drive, Cary, NC
Northwest Cary YMCA, 6903 Carpenter Fire Station Road, Cary, NC
Poyner YMCA, 227 Fayetteville Street, Raleigh, NC
Alexander Family YMCA, 1603 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC
Poole Family YMCA, 2110 Aversboro Road, Garner, NC
Kraft Family YMCA, 8921 Holly Springs Road, Apex, NC
YMCA of the Triangle Association Resource Center, 801 Corporate Center Drive, Suite 200, Raleigh, NC
Knightdale Station YMCA, 494 Knightdale Station Run, Knightdale, NC
Southeast Raleigh YMCA, 1436 Rock Quarry Road, Raleigh, NC

Wynns Family Psychology: