Back-to-school shopping looks a little different when someone else picks up the entire classroom wish list.
At Alfred Lima Sr. Elementary School in Providence, New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye and his wife, Ann Michael, did exactly that. Through their MayeDay Family Foundation, the couple paid for Amazon classroom wish lists belonging to all 54 teachers and support specialists at the school, according to reporting from Patriots.com.
Principal Tonya Costa initially thought the outreach might be too good to be true. After confirming the offer with her administrative team, school leaders decided not to simply pass along the news. Instead, they called educators into what appeared to be an emergency meeting and revealed the surprise there.
The reaction, Costa told Patriots.com, included plenty of tears.
The gift carries particular weight at Alfred Lima Sr., a Title I school serving students from across Providence. Costa told Patriots.com that 98 percent of students receive free or reduced-price lunch and more than 400 are multilingual learners. Covering the wish lists gave teachers access to classroom materials they otherwise may not have been able to purchase.
The donation also marks another New England project for the MayeDay Family Foundation, which Maye launched earlier this year to support children and families. Its first major fundraiser, a celebrity softball game in Worcester, raised more than $500,000.
The Providence school already has plans to return the gesture. Assistant Vice Principal Kelli Goodwin told Patriots.com that Alfred Lima Sr. hopes to hold a “Maye Day” at the school in May to recognize the couple and the foundation’s support. For more on the surprise, including reactions from Alfred Lima Sr. educators, read the original story on Patriots.com. Learn more about the MayeDay Family Foundation online at MayeDay.org.
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