Creating Educational Opportunities DonorsChoose Launches NC Site to Link Teachers and Donors Launched in February 2004, DonorsChooseNC is a nonprofit website where public school teachers in need connect with individual donors who want to help. Originally started by a New York City public school teacher in 2000, DonorsChoose.org allows teachers, primarily those serving children from low-income families, to submit proposals for any resource that would enhance their students' learning. Teachers can request funding for a wide variety of resources such as basic supplies, field trips, science experiments, extracurricular activities, and more. Individuals around the country can then review the proposals and choose to fund whatever they find most compelling. Michael Brader-Araje led the effort to make North Carolina the first expansion site for DonorsChoose outside of New York. Fifteen school districts were chosento participate in the pilot expansion. All North Carolina school districts will be online in late 2004. “While a powerful goal of DonorsChoose is to help students gain the resources they need to learn, another key goal is to empower citizens to have a positive,immediate, and tangible impact on our public schools," said Michael Brader-Araje, chair of the DonorsChoose NC board. Michael also serves on the DonorsChoose National Board of Directors where he is chair of the expansion committee. DonorsChoose is the Foundation’s 2003 Spark Grant recipient.