NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Teachers put in a lot of time and money to make sure students succeed. Buying classroom supplies can really add up, but thankfully there are resources to help.
On Thursday, the PENCIL resource center will celebrate a huge milestone of giving away $20 million in school supplies to Metro teachers since it opened 18 years ago.
The DG PENCIL Box in West Nashville allows teachers to come once a month at no cost and stock up on basic supplies.
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation has been a sponsor since 2022 and has been crucial to achieving this milestone.
Last school year, nearly $3 million of supplies were distributed through teacher shopping, pop-ups, giveaways and even through school deliveries. It’s made PENCIL the largest distributor of free school supplies in the state.

Young or old, we all love to play board and card games! Those games become even more important when you are indoors and don't have the ability to get outside, like patients in a hospital. Austin Pollack shares the story of students in a Nashville family who have helped re-launch the Red Wagon project to collect games for patients at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
- Lelan Statom