The Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce and Pohanka Automotive are wrapping up the final week of collecting donated items to include in the annual Welcome Teacher Bag program. Monday, August 4th will be the last day to drop off items at the chamber office, located at 200 E Main Street, Salisbury, MD 21801.
As the 2025-2026 school year approaches, new teachers are set to join Wicomico County. Relocating to a new area can be overwhelming, and the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce aims to ease the transition by providing “Welcome New Teacher Bags” to public and private school teachers in the county. This initiative is intended to demonstrate the business community’s support and appreciation for the new teachers.
The Chamber encourages local businesses and non-profits to donate useful items for the teachers to extend appreciation and offer an opportunity for business promotion. SACC President/CEO Bill Chambers emphasized, “Many of these teachers are new to our community, and this will be one of the first contacts that they will have with the great businesses here on Delmarva. It is important to make them feel welcome and share information about our local businesses and community.”
Donated items may include promotional items, gift cards, school supplies, community business “swag” items, coupons for FREE items (no purchase required), or other practical items that would be useful to our new teachers. No flyers or brochures, please.
Optionally, monetary donations ranging from $100 to $150 are also welcome, and these funds will be used to purchase additional useful items to be included in the bags. All sponsors, including those making monetary contributions, will be recognized on a note included in the bags, on social media and print media.
If your business would like to participate or volunteer to stuff the bags, please contact coordinator Paula Nichols at Nichols.motifexpressions@gmail.com or call 443-859-0696. Be sure to ask about the Dine & Donate program! All proceeds will be used to fill the new teacher bags!
A quantity of 200 items should be delivered to the chamber office no later than Monday, August 4, between 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM. Please note that the chamber office is closed on Friday through Labor Day.
The bags will be distributed to new public-school teachers during the New Teacher Summer Academy at James M. Bennett High School and to the private-school new teachers in Wicomico County in August.
Your contribution will bring a huge smile to our new teachers at Wicomico County Public Schools, Salisbury Christian School, The Salisbury School, Wicomico Day School, and St. Francis de Sales Catholic School Salisbury MD.
Thank you to the businesses that have donated, including 47ABC WMDT, Apple Discount Drugs, Aquacare Physical Therapy, Avery Hall Insurance, Bagel Bakery, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Eastern Shore, Budget Your Way, Build Your Own Bowl, Burke & Herbert Bank, CareFirst BlueCross Blue Shield, Chick-Fil-A, Choptank Electric, Comcast Business, Comfort Keepers, Edible Arrangements, Flaming Burgers, GiveSendGo, Habitat 4 Humanity, Hebron Savings Bank, Island Creamery, JoJo’s Family Restaurant, KindSBY, Laytons Chance Vineyard & Winery, Lower Shore Enterprises, Minuteman Press, Motif Expressions, Next Up Nutrition, PAM Health Rehabilitation Hospital, Planzer Law, LLC, Pohanka Automotive of Salisbury, Prime Nutrition, The Payne Team of Remax Advantage Realty, Rita’s Italian Ice, Sams Club, Shore Legal Access, Soul Yoga, sweetFrog, and Wor-Wic Community College.
