Group sells school supplies by pound

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - A local non-profit organization is helping teachers stock up their classrooms by selling school supplies by the pound.

Resources for Rhode Island Education collects excess and damaged school supplies donated by companies, and offers them to members for just 40 cents per pound.

"They come here for supplies and to fill up a lot of the monetary cuts that have been made in their school system," says the group's president, Robert Derobbio.

Derobbio claims that not only do students and teachers benefit from the program, but so does the environment.

"Our main purpose is to divert things from the landfill, to give them one more use before they actually go to the landfill. So each year we're diverting between 250 and 300 tons of refuse from the landfill."

Special needs students staff the Providence warehouse, while learning workplace skills by packaging products and keeping the building clean.

Resources for Rhode Island Education has been around for 20 years, and it is open year-round to members.

• Click here for hours, location, and membership information.