Charity of the week: Kids in Need Foundation

The Kids in Need Foundation (kinf.org) provides underfunded classrooms around the country with free school supplies. The foundation’s mission is to ensure that disadvantaged students in inner-city schools don’t lack the tools necessary for a quality education. Individual donors and partner companies such as Target, Office Depot, and Staples donate surplus school supplies, which are distributed to schools that need them through a national network of resource centers located in 29 major cities. Since its founding, in 1995, the foundation has distributed a total of $450 million in supplies and bettered the education of about 2.4 million students annually. It has also awarded about $1.4 million in grants to K-12 teachers to finance creative classroom projects.

Each charity we feature has earned a four-star overall rating from Charity Navigator, which ranks not-for-profit organizations on the strength of their finances, their control of administrative and fund-raising expenses, and the transparency of their operations. Four stars is the group’s highest ranking.