The beginning of the pandemic in 2020 was difficult for pretty much everyone around the world. One majorly affected group was students , who had to transition from in-class to online learning.
As one teacher found, many students didn’t have a proper workspace to accommodate this new mode of learning . When he set out to change that, he probably didn’t realize just how many people he’d be helping.
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Nate Evans, a 7th grade teacher from Iowa, devoted his life to helping students.
When the pandemic first hit and he began teaching his students virtually, Evans noticed that many of them were learning from places other than desks.
He’d see them on the floor, at the kitchen counter, on the couch, but not at a desk.
Knowing that having a proper work station would help with their learning and concentration, he set out to build desks for his students.
Yes… build them. With his own two hands and materials from Home Depot.
Evans built the desks on his own in his garage, completing 13 of them in a week. He then delivered them to each of his students.
From there, things began to escalate.
Evans had posted about his endeavors on Facebook, which began to garner him attention. Having originally paid for the materials for the desks out of his own pocket, he began to receive donations from the community.
Pretty soon, it was a whole operation.
UpWorthy reports that donations from the community included hundreds of dollars in cash and gift cards for Home Depot and other hardware stores, as well as a table saw and other useful equipment.
By September 2020, Evans launched Woodworking With a Purpose.
With a team of volunteers, Evans managed to build over 2000 desks for students in the community.
“It’s for kids who have absolutely nothing to kids who have everything they’ve wanted but don’t have this space because it wasn’t available,” he said to Good Morning America .
Each desk costs between $20 and $25 to build.
Once desks are completed, volunteers and educators will pick them up from Evans’ garage in order to distribute them to any kid who might need a desk of their own.
But the organization doesn’t just stop at desks.
In 2021, Woodworking with a Purpose expanded its scope to focus on other things a child might need. This includes providing families with books and bookshelves, as well as building hope chests for foster children in the area.
And they’re continuing their mission.
To think that it all started with one teacher who wanted nothing more than to make a small but meaningful difference in the lives of his own students, and then evolved into something that can help so many kids.
But it makes sense. After all, that’s all Evans has ever wanted to do.
In his own words: “I became a teacher to help kids. That was it. It wasn’t for the summer breaks. I volunteer wherever I can. I want to see them learn and grow.”
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