Louis Braille School

Our Wish List now resides in the “Giving” section of our Web Site. There you will find not only our latest request, but also a list of wishes that were granted.

To find the Wish List, click “Giving” on the main navigation bar of the Home page, then go to “Wish List” on the break-out on the right side of the page.

We will post a blog when there are recent Wish List developments.

This is our new wish:

Braille Camp Tuition
As of today, three children will attend our July Braille Camp who cannot afford the tuition. We never deny a child the benefit of our programs because of inability to pay.

We received funds for a full scholarship for one of the children. Will you help provide scholarships for the other two?

Tuition for the two-week program is $250. Perhaps you can donate all or a portion of that amount. For many of our children, Braille Camp is the highlight of their summer.

Thank you for your kind consideration of this request.

Other Braille Camp Requests
4 bags of rubber bands for tie-dying

White cotton T-shirts of the following sizes for tie-dying:
Three each of child sizes 10, 12, and 14
Two each of adult sizes small and medium.
(The fiber content of the shirts should be at least 60% to properly retain the dye.)

Barbasol Shaving Cream–Up to two dozen cans, “value size,” “Original” and “Sensitive Skin” formulas

“I never heard of soccer balls with bells in them,” Zora Rockney said, despite all the time she has spent as a volunteer with the Louis Braille School and, before the school’s establishment, the many hours she volunteered at the Louis Braille Center (the Center, which provided various services for the blind and partially sighted communities around North Seattle, was dissolved in late 2005 and followed in 2006 by the opening of the Louis Braille School).

Zora’s long association with the Center and the School has inspired her to visit the Louis Braille School’s Web Site, where she learned that soccer balls with bells in them were one of the items on the school’s Wish List. Teacher Beckie has planned a soccer game for campers and their parents at this year’s summer Braille Camp, so soccer balls with audio aids in them were put on the list.

Zora thought the balls could be used during the school year, even before camp starts in July, and donated the money needed to purchase them.

Before choosing the soccer balls, Zora’s desire to give was attracted to art supplies.

One day last month she drove into the school parking lot and removed a large plastic bag from her car. Whatever was in the bag caused it to form stretch marks. She put the bag down on a chair in the lobby, then asked a staff member to carry it the rest of the way to the rear classroom.

The staff member who picked it up said he felt like a cartoon character who winds up pulling himself to a heavy bag instead of pulling the bag to him.

Maybe it’s no mystery as to how Zora managed the feat of strength.

She had lots of goodies in the bag and was determined to deliver them were they were needed.

Out came assorted art supplies, including glue sticks, sequins, glitter, and construction paper. No wonder the bag was so heavy. The paper was high-quality. “The sales clerk at the crafts store told me the higher quality of paper won’t fade,” Zora said.

Zora knows that Louis Braille School students will be making many booklets with construction paper. She chose the non-fading (and heavier) paper so the children’s work will last longer.

When Zora came to the Louis Braille Center several years ago, she was seeking a braille greeting card for a friend. She was impressed at how quickly the job was done. “In five minutes I had a card,” she recalled.

She began volunteering at the Center. Eventually she took up the study of braille.

After the Center dissolved in 2005, Zora resumed volunteer work by reading to children at the Louis Braille School. She also volunteered at summer Braille Camp.

At last year’s camp she spent time with a boy who loves multiplication tables and Beatles’ music. “We had a lot of fun together,” she said. “He would be listening to the Beatles when I would ask him another multiplication table question. He knew the right answer every time.”

As she thought of all her time spent with children at the Louis Braille School and summer Braille Camp, Zora wished she could buy every item on the Wish List.

“But sometimes it takes more than just looking and wishing,” she said. “Other people would probably love to give, but sometimes don’t know what to give. The Wish List gives them the opportunity to buy things that will be useful to the school.”

There are three easy ways you can help the Louis Braille School gain supplies and money to support its educational program, and all it will cost you is a few minutes of time. The three programs are:

Office Depot 5% Back to Schools
Campbell’s Labels for Education
Box Tops 4 Education

Office Depot 5% Back to Schools

Help our school earn free supplies from Office Depot.

The Louis Braille School will earn credits equal to 5% of your qualifying purchases. Every time you shop at any Office Depot store, at check out tell the cashier, “5% Back to Schools” and give the name and location of our school, Louis Braille School in Edmonds. They will ask for the school ID number, 70207722. If you do not have the ID number, they can quickly look it up.

Do not worry about whether your purchases are qualifying purchases. The store’s computer will figure that out from the receipt codes.

For your convenience, we have wallet-size cards showing the school name and ID number. We will be happy to send you one at your request.

Remember, every time you shop at Office Depot say:

5% Back to Schools
Louis Braille School, Edmonds, WA
ID# 70207722 (or ask them to look it up)

For more information about Office Depot’s 5% Back to Schools, check out their website and scroll down to 5% Back to Schools.

Campbell’s Labels for Education

For more than thirty years, Campbell’s has been awarding free educational equipment to schools in exchange for proofs of purchase from the Campbell’s family of products. Simply save proofs of purchase from participating Campbell’s products and send or bring them to the Louis Braille School, 10130 Edmonds Way, Edmonds, WA 98020.

Look for the Campbell’s Labels for Education logo on the product packaging. We must have the bar code; for beverages we need the bottle cap.

Points accumulate to the school’s credit as the labels are redeemed. When we have enough points, we can select from a wide array of items in a colorful on-line catalog. Points required for items vary with the value of the item.

Some of the products eligible for redemption include: Campbell’s soups, SpaghettiOs, Prego, Swanson, Pepperidge Farm, and V8.

See the Campbell’s website for more information about Campbell’s Labels for Education, and a list of the many qualifying products.

Box Tops 4 Education

General Mills launched its Box Tops 4 Education program in 1996 as a way to help schools gain extra cash by redeeming product box tops. The program has expanded to include Pillsbury, Kimberley Clark, Hefty, and Ziplock with products such as Betty Crocker, Gold Medal, Green Giant, Kleenex, Scott, Progresso, and others.

Please look for the Box Top 4 Education labels on your food products and send the labels to the school. Each Box Top 4 Education label currently is worth ten cents to the school, some are worth more, and there are “bonus point specials.”

See the Box Top website for information.