Instead of wedding gifts, Florida couple asks guests for school supplies

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Kelli and Matt Cameron didn't have a typical wedding registry.

The Tampa, Florida, residents decided that they had enough household items, so in lieu of gifts, they asked guests to donate school supplies. "It wasn't much different than going online and making a registry," Matt Cameron said. "Instead of Crock-Pots, it was Sharpies and T-shirts and khaki shorts."

Kelli Cameron, a first grade teacher, decided the supplies should go to kids at Booker T. Washington Elementary School. At the end of the wedding, dozens of backpacks filled with paper, pencils, crayons, and more were loaded up in Matt's car, and they've since been delivered to the elementary school. "How wonderful it was that we were able to do that, take something that was about us and kind of help others," Kelli said. "The kids that get the backpacks will be so excited for that first day of school." Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.