THE SCROLL

In October of 2020, an art teacher in Brooklyn reached out to us with a concerning message. The teacher told us that some of her students - who were learning remotely - didn’t have notebooks or sketchbooks to complete their lessons. She was reaching out to see if we could make a donation of supplies to her classroom.  We immediately thought, ‘yes’, we’d love to donate a few journals and school supplies to her and her students. When we asked how many students she was teaching, we were surprised to find out that this teacher, alone, has close to 200 students.  As we paused and thought about it, we knew this teacher wasn’t the only educator in this situation, and we wanted to find a way to do something about it.  A few weeks later, we were able to donate to her classroom - 200 journals and 200 sets of markers. After making the donation, we told her to let us know if she knew of any other teachers in a similar situation.  That day, she posted in a Facebook group for NYC teachers, asking if anyone else’s students lacked supplies to complete their lessons. The response was overwhelming.  On January 15th, we got in the car and delivered journals to four more teachers, starting in the Bronx and finishing in Brooklyn. These teachers serve more than 800 students in the NYC metro, and now, each one of their students has a notebook they can call their own.  Above all else, we want to thank these five teachers who reached out to us asking for supplies. They have incredibly hard jobs in normal times let alone during a pandemic. Instead of waiting it out and hoping for things to go back to normal, these teachers showed action. They stood up for their students and got them the supplies they needed to learn.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “I can't wait to share them with my students. I know they will be filling them with drawings, and writing, to express their ideas and feelings. I'm so glad to be able to give my students this lovely surprise, in the middle of the winter, in the middle of an extremely tough school year." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "We are so grateful and cannot wait to distribute this incredible surprise to our scholars. Thank you truly for bringing joy to our community during such a trying time." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Teachers to thank: Niaren Desilva Elizabeth Kinkel Eleni Garasimou Courtney Watson  Haya Moline  

Huntsville, Alabama  On March 14th, I came home to Huntsville for my cousin's engagement party. I had a return flight to New York on the 17th, and I was eager to get back to the city to begin working on The Scribes full-time.  In the span of a day or two, news continued to develop around the danger of Covid-19, and it was pretty evident that traveling back to New York wouldn’t happen anytime soon. It then became clear that I’d be spending more time in Huntsville than originally anticipated.  The other Scribes, Pooja and Alden, were in the same boat, too - Pooja in New Jersey and Alden in Maine.  We set up daily calls to discuss our business, and we talked about how we could sustain in the midst of a pandemic. Our inventory was scattered across our apartments in New York City, many of our corporate leads were reconsidering their orders, and we weren’t entirely sure what was next.  One thing we were sure of was our mission. We are a brand that gives back, and we knew that if we stayed focused on serving others, people would support us.  In the days to follow, we decided to start a campaign in the Huntsville community - a community that had already shown us a great deal of support since launching the business in November 2019. By the final weeks of March, we had finalized the designs for The Huntsville Scribe, and we decided that for every journal we sold, we’d be donating one to students in The Huntsville Community who needed resources most.    Fast forward a few months, and the Huntsville Scribe has been our best seller over the last 90 days. With the support of many individuals and businesses, we have sold over 750 journals to the Huntsville community.  From the three of us at The Scribes, we want to say thank you. Thank you for buying our journals, leaving positive reviews, sharing us on social media, spreading the word to family and friends, and allowing us the opportunity to give back to our community. With your support, we’ve been able to donate journals to Morris Elementary, The Boys and Girls Club, and the Women in Defense Fund (TN Valley Chapter.) We have more journals to sell, and many more journals to give. We look forward to your support along the way!  - Mike, Co-Founder   You can purchase The Huntsville Scribe here. 

Making a difference in Honduras Since starting The Scribes, we’ve been extremely lucky to meet some incredible people that have not only shown an interest in The Scribes, but given us an opportunity to make a difference that none of us could have imagined.  Through friends and family in New York City, we were able to meet Ramiro Ocasio, Jordan Elkin, and other board members of the Foundation for Education in Honduras (FEIH). Since 2014, FEIH has built 12 schools (with #13 under construction), in high-need areas of Honduras where many children have limited access to educational opportunities. These schools have supported over 2,000 children and 50,000 community members, making a huge impact in Honduras and beyond.  We are incredibly excited and proud to announce that we are partnering with FEIH to donate 3,000 journals to students and teachers in Honduras. By gifting journals to these schools, we hope that we can make a small difference in the lives of these students and teachers.  “FEIH operates in communities where many students attend school without basic school supplies, making achievement of learning objectives virtually impossible. FEIH has proudly partnered with The Scribes to provide each student a beautiful journal where their thoughts and ideas can flourish. Together, FEIH and The Scribes can create change by fostering improved educational outcomes and encouraging students to dream big.” - Ramiro Ocasio, Co-Founder, FEIH When you buy a Scribe, we hope you know that you are making a difference. Not only will a journal help you be more productive, creative, and thoughtful, but your purchase allows us to give back in a big way.  This is Part One of a long and meaningful relationship between The Scribes and FEIH. 

Alexandria, Virginia December 2019 Every year, 200,000+ children in America enter our criminal justice system. Time spent in a facility is time missed in the real world. News, politics, new technology, new music - all of this is missed while one is incarcerated. With this disconnect from the outside world, a juvenile detention center is meant to be a place that is free from distraction, allowing the residents to really focus on themselves. Juvenile detention centers place a heavy emphasis on education and positive habit-building, in hopes of transforming once-troubled children into more responsible and productive members of society. At the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center (NVJDC) in Alexandria, VA, it’s not about “serving time,” but instead, serving children.  It is constantly said to our residents: “You have limited time with us, what are you going to do with this time?” At NVJDC, residents are presented with several educational, psychoeducational, social, therapeutic and professional learning opportunities including employment within the facility, interview prep, job fairs, resume building and community service projects. Time at the NVJDC is spent looking forward, and making the corrections necessary that will prepare the residents to succeed upon re-entering society.  At The Scribes, we want to help support the important work that so many are doing to transform the lives of our at-risk youth, and we have done so by donating journals to every child and young adult in the facility. By donating these journals, we hope to inspire creativity in the lives of these residents, by giving them a place to express themselves freely. Since donating the journals, we’ve learned that The Original Scribe has become a place for school work, music lyrics, poems, letters home and 2020 goals. The NVJDC has even incorporated The Scribes journal into their unique behavioral management program that is based on creative journaling, pro-social development and skill building.  At each level, residents are given a few topics to think about, and they are able to capture these thoughts in their Scribe. We are so inspired by the stories we’ve heard from the residents of the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center and we are honored to be a part of their come-back story.     “The Scribes supports our ultimate goal of providing a safe, enriching environment for the most at-risk children to begin to heal and thrive. Journal keeping allows our adolescents to reflect and dream, both of which are key factors in a young person’s developmental process. By incorporating The Scribes into our required residential programs, we have another tool to support our work of creating a space where rehabilitation is possible. I am grateful for the donation from The Scribes, as it solidifies our commitment to the growth and development of the young people in our community.” - Johnitha McNair, Executive Director     To encourage the behavior of writing, thinking, and dreaming, The Scribes will work tirelessly to ensure that more juvenile detention centers, all over the country, will have the resources necessary for their residents to be their best. We look forward to your support along the way.