I understand your feelings about taking things that are waste for a corporation (R&D is a very wasteful process) and giving them to local schools.
As a contrast, the team I was on (Making and Science) purchased an enormous number of safety glasses, which we gave away at Maker Faire. We often gave whole boxes to teachers who asked (like, 144 glasses). You see them all over the place, and the teachers were always thrilled to get them.
But throwing away valuable stuff is still waste. If you can help someone a great deal for next to nothing, that’s worth doing. Forgoing that help and then making donations elsewhere is nice I guess, but it’s still wasteful.
As a contrast, the team I was on (Making and Science) purchased an enormous number of safety glasses, which we gave away at Maker Faire. We often gave whole boxes to teachers who asked (like, 144 glasses). You see them all over the place, and the teachers were always thrilled to get them.