I hate begging for stuff. However, I've come across a website that others may find useful. It's called donorchoose.org. You list a proposal for an item you'd like to have or an experience you'd like your students to have. You provide information regarding pricing and hopefully a company or individual will donate the items to your classroom. There is, of couse, a registration process. They suggest that you keep the amount small. The smaller the item, the sooner it may be filled. I submitted two proposals for my classroom for two class sets of MindStorm projects focusing on robotics and renewable energy. Hopefully these will peak the interest of a mysterious benefactor!!!