Already a fan of comedian and actor Stephen Colbert? The news below will only make us love him more!

Not a fan? Well, here’s a bit of news that just may convince you to give the man a tip of the hat:

Stephen Colbert has announced that he will fund every existing grant request that has been made by South Carolina public school teachers, on the education crowd-funding website DonorsChoose.org.

Colbert grew up in South Carolina, and he is giving back to his community by providing this very generous gift!

He raised funds for this gift by auctioning off items used in his former Comedy Central show, The Colbert Report. The organizations, Share Fair Nation and ScanSource, opted to match his donation, resulting in funding a total of $800,000 in grant requests.

How freakin’ awesome is that?

Colbert is no stranger to charitable donations—he has previously donated to Amnesty International, a worldwide organization which advocates for human rights, as well as Autism Speaks, an organization funding Autism research, in order to find the best preventative measures and potential cures.

Colbert announced his latest  charitable contribution via live video stream at a Greenville, South Carolina elementary school event:

His donation coincides with National Teacher Appreciation Week.

Teachers are an incredibly hard-working group of people, who often get overlooked (and underpaid), considering the important service they are providing—educating our children!

Teachers do not simply work Monday through Friday, 8am to 3pm. They often put in hours before and after school day hours—preparing lesson plans, grading papers, and setting up their classrooms.

Teachers also often contribute money from their own pockets to buy supplies and other classroom necessities, because funds provided by the administration do not cover everything that is needed for teachers to provide our children the educational experience they require.

Teaching is not a job that people take to to receive financial gain, or even recognition. Sure, teachers may get a nod of thanks or a card during teacher appreciation week, but the fact is, these are people who bust their butts to ensure that kids grow up educated and ready to face the crazy world that awaits them.

They do this because they care about kids and want to serve their communities.

I know this from first-hand experience, as both my mom and my sister were elementary school teachers, and I’ve seen the hours of work they put in at home, after-hours, so they could provide the care they could to the kids in their classrooms.

And what is on these teachers’ wish-lists? What is it that our teachers want?

They want more supplies for their classrooms—books, computers, art supplies, items for projects—items that will benefit the children. Teachers want funds for field trips, so they can offer children hands-on learning experiences.

Essentially what teachers want is more they can offer and do for the kids.

By supporting teachers, we really support ourselves—our communities and our future leaders!

So I applaud Stephen Colbert, for using his fame and celebrity to give back to the community and to support some of the most hard-working people in our country—our school teachers.

 

 

 

 

Relephant Read:

The Real Stephen Colbert 

Author: Yoli Ramazzina

Editor: Renée Picard

Photo: WikiMedia Commons/David Shankbone