$1M Clorox Donation Goes To Fund Basic Teacher Supplies

ATLANTA — Clorox is donating $1 million to support teachers across the country by helping with basic classroom supplies.

The company made the announcement Wednesday morning during a surprise pep rally at Emma Hutchinson Elementary School in southwest Atlanta where the company, along with NBA partner the Atlanta Hawks also unveiled a $100,000 gift to Atlanta Public Schools and a donation of $10,000 worth of cleaning products.

Amid the fanfare of jersey-wearing, masked and socially-distanced elementary students, pom-pom-shaking performances from members of the Hawks Dance Team, the slapstick antics of mascot Harry the Hawk, and bone-rattling beats from ATL Boom, the Hawks’ drumline, Hawks legend and Basketball Hall-of-Famer Dominique Wilkins was on-hand with Hawks Executive Vice President Andrew Saltzman to celebrate the donations.

“Growing up, I had a lot of great teachers and coaches to help me achieve a level of success on and off the court,” Wilkins said. “That’s why it’s so important that we recognize and reward people who do so much in our communities. So we want to say thank you to all you teachers for going the extra mile to ensure that these kids have the same level of excellence that our communities so need.”

Clorox Associate Brand Director Cedric McCants punctuated Wilkins' statement with the extra surprise announcement of the $100,000 gift.

For the second year in a row, Saltzman said, Clorox is recognizing the effort educators put forth during the pandemic to make sure students who often were quarantined, or in classrooms that needed constant cleaning, got what they needed. Teachers would either spend their own money on supplies or do without, and many chose to sacrifice for their students, he said.

“Teachers and educators are also frontline heroes,” Saltzman said. “And they’ve had to reimagine how they teach and how they connect with students under some really, really difficult circumstances. On behalf of Clorox, we really want to say thank you.”

The $1 million gift was given to DonorsChoose, a nonprofit organization that helps people support classrooms by matching donors with teaching needs. The Atlanta Public Schools partnership office will determine the use for the $100,000 donation.

After the pep rally, Hutchinson Elementary Principal Shuanta Broadway-McDaniel was elated for the students who got to experience the spectacle, noting that while only a few were in the school gymnasium where the event was held, the rest of the school was able to watch over live-streaming video from their classrooms.

“This is an explicit sense of exposure for our students, especially in the south Atlanta community,” Broadway-McDaniel said. “Many of our students have never been to a Hawks game, and you just brought them Harry the Hawk full center. You have a Hall-of-Famer right here. They just had some experiences that I’m just so proud that we were able to afford those to them.”

In terms of the money and Clorox products donated to Atlanta Public Schools, she said she is certain those resources will be put to good use.

“I want to make sure that I’m a good steward of this money,” Broadway-McDaniel said. “I want to make sure that all of these funds end up in the hands of impacting children.”