TULSA, Okla. -- A Tulsa mom, who found unused school supplies in a dumpster at McKinley Elementary last week, decided to donate a portion to students in need.
Special Kids Learning Center is a non-profit with an annual $2,500 budget for school supplies. They say that hardly covers their need.
Kat Knight loads her red van with boxes of unused school supplies.
“All the teachers always ask for these things," she said.
Knight's first stop is at Special Kids Learning Center.
"I got a ton more if you guys ever run out or anything," she said.
Knight interviewed with 2 Works for You last week when she made three trips to the dumpster at McKinley Elementary.
“I might have saved a little more than $9,000," she said. “I understand updating books, I get that, but can we donate these books?”
Now, Knight is sharing with a daycare.
“Running a small non-profit, we don’t waste anything. nothing goes to waste," Special Kids Learning Center director Joanne Williams said. “We choose primarily to serve kids who receive subsidized childcare we’re not making ends meat. We’re not bringing in enough every week to pay our teachers.”
It’s upsetting to Williams that new material would be thrown in the trash.
“It does bother me," she said. "I hope that Kat can be a catalyst for change.”
The school district told 2 Works for You last week, it’s common to get new curricular materials and there’s limited storage to keep old materials.
Knight also gave donations to a grandmother who's helping her grandchildren learn the basics.
“People look down on people that dumpster dive, but you just don’t realize how much waste is actually going on," Kimberly Stephens said.
“If I have to dumpster dive until everybody is taken care of then I will," Knight said.
Knight says she will continue to fill her red van and help others in the community.
