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Thanks to the efforts of an enterprising parent, teachers in the Bloomington, Minnesota, district may not have to dip into their own pockets for school supplies much longer. Next month, Cary Weatherby, 49, plans to open a 6,700 square-foot store that will provide school supplies to local educators for free. Weatherby has spent two years preparing for the opening—a process that involved rummaging around company loading docks and garage sales. (“I saw what was being thrown away,” she says.) Along the way she also created Companies to Classrooms, a nonprofit that enables local businesses to donate excess supplies to Bloomington schools, and raised enough money for six months’ rent. On the question of whether school systems should give teachers adequate supplies, Weatherby maintains a dogged impartiality. “I wonder about it, but I don’t get upset,” she says. “I’ll let other people deal with the big issues.”