Chandler mom creates crowdfunding campaign for back-to-school needs
Aug 4, 2014, 7:48 PM | Updated: 7:58 pm
PHOENIX — To help defray the rising costs of back-to-school supplies, one Chandler mom is turning to crowdfunding.
Deb Hardy and her kids are used to hand-me-downs, having already recycling items and clothing from the past year.
But some items just can’t be bought at a thrift store.
“My middle schooler is my most expensive,” Hardy told News/Talk 92.3 KTAR’s Mac & Gaydos. “His math class alone, he needs an advanced graphic scientific calculator that cost over $120, let alone choir money by the end of the first month of $35.”
Hardy, a single mom, is employed; however, she makes just enough not to be eligible for any aid or grants from the state or school system. Most of her paycheck, she said, goes to taxes and medical insurance for her family.
“[I’m] trying to let them do the clubs that they want to do that I got to do as a kid, but they all cost now,” she lamented.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the Hardy family thought they would turn to crowdfunding for a last resort.
“If a guy can get $55,000 for potato salad, maybe they can get $1,000 to get what they want for school for one year,” she remarked.
Hardy was adamant that she and her children have cut corners as much as feasibly possible, saying one of her sons raised the money he needed for scout camp all on his own. He also worked in the school cafeteria last year, so he could afford hot lunches.
In all, the Hardys are asking for $1,000 on GoFundMe, a crowdfunding website, about a third of which would go to school supplies alone.
If you would like to donate to the Hardy family, click here.
