Eleven years ago, Charles Best was a history teacher in the Bronx with the seed of an idea. Still living at his parents' home, the then 25-year-old sensed a disconnect in the needs of public school teachers, like himself, and his community's potential for generosity.Teachers needed money for crayons or field trips, he thought, and people in the community were willing to give. They just didn't know how.In 2000, Best started DonorsChoose.org from his New York classroom, getting his fellow teachers to sign up and request what they wanted most for their students. Today teachers at half of all the public schools in the nation have had at least one teacher post a project to DonorsChoose.org, whose supporters include board member Stephen Colbert, Oprah Winfrey and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.Read the full story on Forbes.
