Mission & History

Free 2 Teach Provides Free Resources to Teachers

Our Mission

Free 2 Teach provides free school supplies to every public-school teacher in Madison County Alabama by mobilizing the community to ensure every child has access to an excellent education.

We Invest in Teachers

Free 2 Teach provides free resources to teachers in Madison County’s three public school systems. These resources are available to more than 3,800 full-time classroom teachers and school staff and their 53,000 students, improving the educational experience of our children and strengthening our community’s future workforce.

Our model is to empower teachers: giving them choice, joy, and a community that cares. We partner with teachers, listen to their needs, and work hard to find the resources that will support them as they work to engage and empower children in their classrooms.

Our Story

Two friends, one a retired school teacher, were volunteering at a holiday gift drive when they noticed a collection bin full of school supplies. These friends began discussing how wonderful it would be for teachers to have access to supplies like these for their own classrooms and students. It was December 2009, and the seed for Free 2 Teach was planted.

Free 2 Teach Executive Director, Eula Battle, was the retired teacher working at that holiday gift drive. She knew all too well the dilemma that many teachers are in, spending more and more money out of their own pockets to compensate for the dwindling funds allocated from the state’s budget for classroom supplies.

To address this growing problem, surplus and out-of-date supplies were collected from local businesses, including old letter-head, envelopes, binders, and more. Initially, the supplies were stored in Eula’s garage. Today, a brick and mortar Free 2 Teach store operates from a 10,000 square foot combined retail and warehouse space, providing free supplies to all full-time classroom teachers in Madison County’s three public school systems: Huntsville City, Madison City, and Madison County.

Learn more about Eula's Legacy and ways you can partner to join in our story of impact now and in the future

Our Impact

We will never forget the very first teacher who shopped at the store, Charlene Crawford, from Morris Elementary School. From this first shopper, to the now 20,000 shoppers we have served in 14 years, Free 2 Teach is making a difference. Our model is simple but transformative: empower the teacher, the leader of the classroom, so that he or she can equip and inspire every child in our public schools. Our impact is a story of community: together with our partners, board, staff and volunteers, we are making a difference, one full shopping cart at a time.

Read more about our impact and learn how you can partner with us.

Our Thanks

The story of Free 2 Teach is a story of partnerships, friendships and shared vision. Our work is only possible because of contributions from local businesses, the generosity of community foundations and civic organizations, and the gifts of individual donors. Through countless supply donations and supply drives, and the gift of time from our many volunteers, Free 2 Teach is able to achieve the unimaginable. In just a few short years Free 2 Teach has gone from collecting and storing unused and excess supplies in Eula’s garage to giving away over $14.7 million of free resources to our teachers!

Thank You.

We thank you for your generosity, encouragement and commitment. Our story hasn’t ended. We are still at the beginning, perhaps, even yet in the first chapter! We look forward to continuing our story and serving our teachers, students and community for many years to come.