ORLANDO, Fla. — As teachers in Orange County continue to fight for better pay, many of those teachers also need to spend their own money on school supplies for their classrooms and students. 

But one Central Florida nonprofit, A Gift For Teaching, works to help teachers not have to pay for it all. 

Zane Fessler is an agriculture teacher at Freedom High School. 

He has his students do a lot of hands-on art projects, which require art supplies.

“So they’ll make their own garden and they’ll use this stuff to draw it out so it looks nice and everything,” Fessler said.

So he’s picking up supplies for his students at the A Gift For Teaching Store. 

And he won’t have to pay for any of it. 

“They send a report out saying how much money and I think it was $300 last month so, it’s definitely quite the opportunity,” Fessler said.

That’s $300 he can keep in his own wallet. Thanks to A Gift For Teaching and their donors. 

“They can take whatever we have in the store that they need,” said Director of Development at A Gift for Teaching, Marisa Worley.

Because like many teachers, Fessler would have to buy supplies to decorate his classroom or provide for students who can’t afford their own on his own dime. 

“More than 70 percent of the students come from families that can’t afford lunch let alone school supplies so that’s a huge number and a huge need we are trying to fill,” Worley said.

That's around 70 percent of Orange County's 215,000 students.

“How am I as a teacher supposed to tell them they have to bring in a notebook or bring in a set of pencils or markers when I know they can’t afford to eat,” Fessler said.

Florida currently sits in the lowest 5 states for teacher pay nationwide.

Making it difficult for some teachers to afford the supplies their students needs.

That's where A Gift For Teaching comes in.

“So trying to alleviate some of that pressure and that burden is what we’re trying to do,” Worley said.

So Fessler can focus on his students’ needs, instead of what it’s costing his own family. 

“It’s quite a weight to lift off your shoulders,” Fessler said.

Last year, a Gift For Teaching handed out more than 9 million dollars worth of free school supplies. They get the money for these supplies from individual and corporate donations.