a student-run project in Austin

Every kid deserves
a full pencil case.

We collect pencils, notebooks, books, and backpacks and get them straight to the Austin kids whose families can't always swing it.

♥ Chip in ↝ see what we do
0+
Supplies goal for 2026
0%
Stays in Austin
ATX
Where it all happens
who's behind it

Started by two Austin students.

We're Atharv and Jayden - two incoming freshmen from Austin. We kept noticing the same thing around school: kids without the basics. A pencil. A notebook. A backpack. Small stuff that's easy to overlook until it's the reason a kid falls behind.

So we started The Pencil Project. Right now it's just the two of us - collecting supplies, running small drives, and dropping them off at schools and libraries near us. We're still figuring a lot out, but we mean it.

- Atharv & Jayden

AG
Atharv Gupta
Founder
Incoming freshman
JM
Jayden Mailhot
Co-Founder
Incoming freshman
why it matters

A pencil is a small thing.
Going without one isn't.

When a kid has their own supplies, school stops being about what they're missing and starts being about what they can do.

ready

They show up prepared

Their own notebook and pencils means walking in ready to learn, not stuck borrowing or sitting out.

relief

Teachers catch a break

Plenty of Austin teachers buy supplies out of pocket. Every box we deliver is money back in theirs.

confidence

Confidence follows

A fresh backpack and a few books can change how a kid feels walking in on day one.

2026 progress

Our goal: 800+ supplies.

Here's where we're at. We're just getting started, and every drive moves the bar.

Supplies collected & delivered
0 / 800+ goal

Just kicking things off - follow along as the bar fills up.

where it goes

Right back into Austin.

Everything we collect goes to schools and libraries around town - the closer to home, the better.

libraries

Austin Public Library

Supplies for homework-help and after-school programs so kids can keep learning past the school day.

k-12 schools

Title I Schools

These campuses serve Austin's highest-need students. We get supplies straight into classrooms.

community

East Austin Centers

Community centers serving families stretched thin - we make sure their kids are stocked up too.