Well folks, it took grateful parents, students and guests just six short days to say thanks to teachers across the country to help raise a whopping $6 million–the donation goal–for beloved teachers through Target’s Thanks a Billion campaign!

The social campaign drew more than 240,000 guests to share messages of appreciation through the Thanks a Billion website honoring A+ teachers. When a guest shared a note of gratitude, Target donated $25 to the teacher’s school.

And the influx of appreciation skyrocketed from the moment the campaign kicked off on May 14.  

The overall numbers? We did the math and calculated that:

• There were an average of 1,764 thank yous per hour throughout the duration of the campaign - that’s $44,100 in donations per hour!
• 50,007 schools will receive grant donations
• California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota were the top states to submit the most thank you notes to teachers and schools

“We know that giving is important to Target guests, and they definitely rallied with us to show appreciation to teachers by eagerly sharing messages of thanks to help us make a positive impact on schools with the $6 million donation through the Thanks a Billion program,” said Laysha Ward, executive vice president and chief corporate social responsibility officer, Target.

Among those who participated in the campaign were Target partners and friends, sharing messages of appreciation via videos, photos and posts on their own social pages

“Thank you to Mr. Epperly for being an amazing teacher and helping me get where I am today!” said motocross racer Ryan Dungey.

Yoobi, a Target-exclusive school supplies brand with a one-for-one mission to support school classrooms appreciates teachers, just like Target! For every Yoobi item purchased at Target, another Yoobi item is contributed into a Yoobi Classroom Pack, which is distributed to K-3 classrooms, right here in the U.S.

Snowboarder and skateboarder Shaun White shared his thanks with a throwback photo from his high school graduation:

As messages poured in, teachers and principals from schools across the U.S. reacted to the kind words.

Carlotta Brown, principal from Peck Elementary in Houston (as featured on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” when she was surprised with a $100,000 grant from Target), said “Words cannot express the heartfelt thanks that my students and school community have for Target’s generous $100,000 grant as part of the Thanks a Billion campaign. The funds will be used for individualized technology in our teacher’s classrooms to advance our students’ achievement to set them up for success in the future.”

Eagan High School in Eagan, Minn. was the top thanked school in the Thanks a Billion program with more than 600 thank you submissions. “We know we have the best students, teachers and a supportive community of families – we think the best in the nation,” said Dr. Polly Reikowski, Principal at Eagan High School. “We’re thankful for Target’s $15,200 grant donation for the Thanks a Billion program and the opportunity to have the community thank our wonderful teachers. We will use this donation to impact the teaching and learning at our school in the year ahead.”

We think that’s definitely worthy of a gold star. Though Target hit the $6 million donation goal in just six days, there’s still time left in the school year to say thanks to the teachers in your life!

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