TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - A local school for autistic children will be expanding its program with the help of a large donation from a big box store.
The Autism Model School received a $25,000 gr ant from the Walmart Foundation, all to support its E-commerce program that teaches kids skills they can use outside of school.
"Use some of these funds to expand the products that we sell at our store," said Luke Reed. "As well as, opening up online stores through other channels that kind of focus on handmade crafts."
The school's online fulfillment business with Amazon is a fully functional online store. It's been up and running for almost a year. It's staffed by students and supervised by staff members.
"Using an app to scan bar codes to see which products might sell, to boxing up the products and taking them to UPS with the help of our staff of course," Reed said. "So, all aspects of E-commerce."
Students have detailed work stations, explaining the task at hand. Students with different ability levels all participate. Their work is analyzed to check progress.
"This model school here in Toledo just fit that bill perfectly as a partner here in the community in Northwest Ohio," said Ron Beadnell, market manager of Walmart. "We just thought was a great opportunity for Walmart to give back."
The school's Amazon store is called Aut-to-be-Partners.
