BUDA, Texas — On a Saturday afternoon, Shelly O'Donnell had storage units open with boxes and shelves put on display.
Inside of those boxes were loads of supplies: organizers, binders, staplers, cabinets and plenty more. All the supplies are reserved for teachers across Central Texas at public and charter schools.
O'Donnell – a retired teacher of 26 years – launched The Teacher Reuse nonprofit organization in March 2022 in an effort to give teachers supplies for free.
"I spent a lot of money out-of-pocket, and that out-of-pocket is in addition to what the teachers or the school districts are able to provide us," O'Donnell said.
For a while, business was good and donations had been pouring in from all over – so much so that at one point, Hays CISD donated a building to help the organization distribute the supplies, according to O'Donnell.
It was because of this that O'Donnell and the organization's board of directors were able to move to a secondary building. However, they quickly had to move out.
"I paid out-of-pocket over $8,000 for this building for two months, and then when we did not get a grant that we thought we were going to get, we landed here in storage," O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell currently has four storage units in Buda, with a fifth one coming soon.
Teachers still come to grab supplies, but getting to them is often a challenge with the units being stuffed. That's led to fewer teachers coming.
"It's not sustainable. We cannot work out of a storage unit. We have way too many supplies," O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell said she reached out to school districts to see if one was able to provide a space but was informed there were too few options available.
"They are just bursting at the seams. They have so many students and so few facilities that are available for our nonprofit. So, we have reached out and they have been very honest with us about not being able to help out at this time, " O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell hopes to get the word out and find a building that can either be donated or one that is at "an extremely low cost."
"Whether that is a converted office space, whether it's a warehouse or retail space that has up to 20 parking spots, that would be perfect for us," O'Donnell said.
Another challenge O'Donnell said she is facing is the lack of volunteers. While the lack of a storefront might be the reason, she hopes the organization she started for her fellow teachers will continue to stick around.