Showing appreciation for TEACHERS ?

Want to show your appreciation for the teachers who work with your children? A lot of parents send massive amounts of food to school. Please consider giving things other than food this year. Your child's teachers are spending a lot of their own $$ to buy supplies for their classroom and for the students who cannot afford them. Judging by posts in several professional teacher groups online, many teachers are spending upwards of $1000 a year (some WAY more than this) of their own money on classroom supplies. How about sending in gift cards for Target, Barnes and Noble, Staples, etc, so that the teachers can buy what they need for their classroom, rather than sending in cakes and cookies, some of which don't ever get eaten? If you are a parent, please consider this. None of us need more of the sugary stuff, but we DO need pencils, markers, etc, in our classrooms.  Thank you!