How a bestselling food writer came to lead a project to clean up teachers' wish lists

The famous food writer lives in Manhattan and her children will be entering fourth and tenth grade this year. There are all kinds of causes and issues she could support. I wondered why she chose this one.

I recently asked Perelman that, along with a few other questions, like what surprised her most about the venture and which recipe on her site says the most “back to school.”

She is quick to point out that the bucket-list project, which she finds rewarding and encouraging, does not require a huge sacrifice on her part.

“Sometimes I feel almost guilty about how little this project means to me,” she admits. “I would do it if it were more difficult, but I feel I have to be honest: I don’t care.”

She adds: “It’s more a reflection of the generosity of the community and their kindness. It’s not about me doing anything special. I’m really just using a space that I’ve already created to bring light back to people who need it.”

The following interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

EdSurge: When and how did the Classroom Wish List Project begin?

Deb Perelman: This is the third summer, so I guess that means it started in… what year is it?… 2022.

A reader messaged me and said her daughter was a school teacher and the school had not given her a budget for school supplies. She asked me: Would I mind sharing her classroom wish list with my readers and spreading the word?

And when I did, they finished their wish list in less than a day. The generosity was amazing. And I heard a lot of other teachers ask if I could help them too. I thought, “Yeah, why not? Let's do it.”

The first summer wasn't the most organized. People would DM me their list and I would share it in a spreadsheet. By the second summer, which was last summer, I knew I was going to do this as a project, hopefully every year.

I created a Google form where teachers could submit their list and I asked them to tell us a little bit about their classroom and what city they're in. I think that helps a lot because sometimes you can read something like, “Oh, it's a music class. I love music,” or “Oh, that's my city.” So, it's more meaningful for people to have a little bit more information when there are so many (lists).

So we got many, many, many more submissions, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. And I was concerned, and I still am, that we were getting too many submissions to make a significant difference. If it's 20 lists, we're going to eliminate them. But I can't promise that for 900 lists, not even close.

But what I forget is that if you need something and a stranger sends you even a quarter or a single item, it still makes your day. It doesn't matter if you only received the crayons or 10 books. There's no way it won't be well received, even if it's not everything that people need.

I imagine people receiving and Giving value to the humanity of it.

Yes, I think it's a nice feeling for both parties. And I think it's a lot of fun to buy books and crayons for the classrooms. I love buying school supplies.

I have two kids and they both go to public school. When they started elementary school, at the beginning of the year the teachers would send us a list of things we could use for the classroom. If you can, bring them. And then as fundraising got better at the public school, the PTA was able to raise more money. We don't have to buy any school supplies anymore and it's a real privilege. We don't even buy a box of crayons. It's crazy.

We were very lucky… And like I said, I think it's really fun to buy crayons and books and whatever for the classroom. It feels really good.

It's a very organic start. Do you often receive emails from readers asking you to support a cause?

Not as often as I'd like, but maybe I'm just not as on top of my email.

One of the darkest secrets of Smitten Kitchen is that I don't have any staff, just a sort of part-time assistant. I'm a do-it-yourself person, which is both good and bad. I wouldn't say this happens often, but I liked it. I feel good. I think everyone wins. I love the idea of ​​supporting teachers.

The things that these teachers need are often very basic. They're small, inexpensive purchases that can really brighten someone's day. And then I get these beautiful notes from them. It's just the joy, the incandescent joy, of people walking into their classroom and finding that a complete stranger bought all the glue they needed for the year. Or someone sent me this picture of… it must be 50 books for their classroom. Someone bought basically every book on her list and she walked into her classroom and there they were.

How do teachers find you? Are they regular readers of your online community?

I usually make the announcement through instagram, where I have my largest social community. I also have a website, but I try to channel it a bit. It could be someone who reads the site, or it could be your child or your friend. I tried to keep it from being too broad and open on the internet, because otherwise we'll just get 10,000 wish lists and nothing will get completed.

But I also like the idea of ​​trying to expand it a bit more, if I can get a part-time employee next summer. Maybe I can get some people to sponsor or match the amount of money that the wish list is cleared. Personally, I don't have enough time to go into that right now.

Is there a teacher this year or in years past whose story stands out to you?

Oh my god, there have been so many.

I remember last summer, after the wildfires in hawaiiThere were people who were specifically looking for lists of those teachers (in Maui).

Especially when some sort of tragedy or weather disaster has happened, and it's been on the news and teachers don't even know how they're going to start their school year, I think there's definitely a lot of focus on that. There's definitely an interest in helping in such a specific way, where what you're doing is going to directly impact a child's education and how their year is going to go. It feels like the most fulfilling way to give in that way.

Is there a request that has been especially common or something that surprises you when you look at these wish lists?

I think the most surprising thing is that the success of a school depends so much on how we fund the school. And I'm not a national education expert by any means, but a lot of that funding comes from crowdfunding and not from money that schools receive from the state for their students.

In many places, parents don't have any extra money to give. And then there are other places where parents write checks for $500 or more to the PTA every year, and it's amazing how much that changes a child's education.

If you live in an area where parents don't have a lot of money or a lot of extra money, why shouldn't kids' classrooms have what they need? Why should that affect whether they have enough crayons? It's crazy if you think about it that way.

That's what's been eye-opening for me. I've also heard a lot of retired teachers and older teachers say, “My goodness, I must have spent $2,000 a year out of my own salary. It's so nice that people want to help.” People don't see this money that teachers spend. It's invisible.

Do you measure your success by dollars raised or wish lists fulfilled, or do you measure it at all?

I'm not actually measuring it at all. … I use the instagram.com/stories/highlights/17941286546273427/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>thank you notes as a good measure of how one receives and how happy one is. You can always see the joy.

Final question: Which recipe from your website is the quintessential back-to-school recipe?

Believe Homemade Oreos It has to be like this, right? I mean, of course. Or it's going to be like this. Grilled cheese and tomato soup — a kid-friendly treat — or homemade Oreos. These are super easy: they're like two chocolate chip cookies with sugar and vanilla inside. They're so much fun.