How to Run a School Supply Drive for Children in Guatemala

How do I organize a school supply drive?

A drive works when it has a closing date, a short list and someone who will carry it all the way to the schools. This order keeps you from collecting things that won't fit in a suitcase:

1. Message us before you start. We'll tell you what's needed right now and whether kits per child or supplies sorted by type work better.
2. Decide who's traveling and when. The flight date is your drive's deadline.
3. Set a concrete goal, like backpacks for one grade or notebooks for one school. Start with a Smile Project supports 7 schools in Las Delicias del Jobo, Taxisco, Santa Rosa, with more than 700 children ages 6 to 16, and hands out school supplies to about 500 of them every year.
4. Share the list with a drop-off spot and hours.
5. Sort, pack and weigh every suitcase before the trip.
6. Coordinate the handoff in Antigua Guatemala with us.

What school supplies should we collect for Guatemala?

Collect what's on the project's school supply list, the same one on our How to help page:

• notebooks;
• crayons, paints and markers;
• pens;
• backpacks;
• children's books in Spanish;
• used computers (message us before bringing one).

The schools also need desks, shoes and recess games for the primary grades. Desks won't fit in a suitcase, but shoes, jump ropes and soccer balls will, so your group can add them. For a sense of scale, the project has already delivered more than 4,000 notebooks to these schools.

If you want to add something that isn't on the list, ask us first. For more ideas, read donate school supplies to Guatemala, and to avoid hauling dead weight, what not to bring to Guatemala.

How can a school, church or company run a supply drive?

The list stays the same; the way you gather it changes:

• Family: each person takes one type of supply, so you don't end up with twenty boxes of crayons and no notebooks.
• School: each grade collects a different item and talks about it in class. It's a concrete way to learn how kids ages 6 to 16 go to school in a village in Taxisco, Santa Rosa.
• Church: a box by the exit for a few Sundays and the list in the bulletin. Start with a Smile is nonpolitical and nonreligious, so any congregation can join in.
• Company: a box in the break room or, if it's simpler, a money drive. Keep in mind the project is not a registered NGO and cannot issue tax-deductible receipts, so this isn't a charitable deduction for the company or its staff.

Whatever the setting, name one person to count what comes in and to talk with us about dates, quantities and the handoff.

How do we get the supplies to Guatemala?

A suitcase is the practical route. Shipping a 20 lb box to Guatemala by USPS Priority Mail International costs $186.60 (USPS), and it still has to clear customs. When you fly, keep three things in mind:

• Weight: on Delta, a standard checked bag can weigh up to 50 lb (23 kg) and measure up to 62 inches in length plus width plus height (Delta). Check your own airline's rules.
• Customs: Guatemala's SAT lets each traveler bring up to $500 in goods beyond personal luggage duty-free, if they aren't for sale, you've been outside Guatemala at least 72 hours and you haven't used the exemption in the previous 6 months (SAT). Customs looks at quantity and type (SAT baggage guide), so dozens of identical items can look commercial. Carry receipts or a list with values.
• Declaration: fill out the Regional Traveler's Declaration online, which every air traveler must file, and declare what you bring (SAT FAQ).

More detail in how to donate from the US or abroad.

How do we coordinate the handoff with Start with a Smile?

Message us with your travel dates, how many suitcases you're bringing and what's in each one: WhatsApp +502 5562 3313, email amaliajarquin@gmail.com or our contact form. With that, we agree on how to receive the drive in Antigua Guatemala.

Then Amalia and the volunteers hand the supplies to the children of Las Delicias del Jobo, about 90 km (56 miles) from Guatemala City, and deliveries are posted with photos on Instagram and Facebook. Your group can see exactly where its drive ended up. Meet the community on Help Las Delicias and in our guide to Las Delicias del Jobo, Taxisco.

What if nobody in our group is traveling to Guatemala?

Turn the drive into a money drive. Share the link to the project's GoFundMe fundraiser so each person can give their share by card: the minimum is $5 and no account is needed (GoFundMe). That route also covers what would never fit in a suitcase, like desks or a proper secondary school building, which is the project's biggest challenge.

To see how funds are used, read what happens to your donation. When your group is ready, give on GoFundMe or message us to coordinate the supplies.