SAN DIEGO, Calif., AUGUST 16, 2013 – With the beginning of the new school year just a short time away, the Office Depot Foundationis preparing to donate 3,500 colorful new sackpacks containing essential school supplies to kids served by nonprofit organizations, schools and agencies in the San Diego area. The Foundation – the independent charitable giving arm of Office Depot® (NYSE:ODP) –made the donations during a special Back-to-School Celebration that began at 10 a.m. on Friday, August 16 (8/16) at the Office Depot store located at 8740 Rio San Diego Drive.
For the first time, San Diego native Nick Cannon – the award-winning actor, comedian, host of “America’s Got Talent” – joined the Foundation for its Back-to-School Celebration in his hometown. In addition to San Diego, Cannon is participating in Office Depot Foundation donation events in Charlotte, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale and New York.
In 2013, the Foundation will donate 300,000 sackpacks to deserving children in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and a number of other countries through its National Backpack Program, which is now in its 13th year. During the past six years alone, more than 20,000 San Diego-area kids have benefited from this award-winning initiative.
By the end of this year, Office Depot and the Office Depot Foundation will have given away more than three million backpacks and sackpacks since the National Backpack Program began in 2001. If you put all three million children of those children together, they would fill up Qualcomm Stadium 42-and-a-half times.
The nonprofit organizations, schools and agencies scheduled to receive sackpacks on August 16 include:
- · Bayside Community Center
- · Pazzaz Inc.
- · Promises2Kids
- · Rolling Readers
- · San Diego Unified School District
- · YMCA of San Diego County
Special guests expected to participate include:
- · Bill Holman, Vice President, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
“In keeping with our mission – Listen Learn Care – we are committed to making a difference in children’s lives by giving them tools to help them succeed in school and, ultimately, in life,” says Office Depot Foundation President Mary Wong. “We are thrilled to know that we will reach our three millionth child this year, and grateful to Office Depot and our many supporters for giving us the opportunity to continue this program for its 13th year.”
The specially designed sackpacks come in six different color combinations with kid-friendly graphics. Each one includes a zippered pouchcontaining a pen, pencil, pencil sharpener, eraser, six-inch ruler and four crayons. They do not have any Office Depot Foundation or Office Depot logos or markings.
To place the sackpacks into children’s hands, the Foundation is hosting 25 Back-to-School Celebrations in cities across the U.S. and in Puerto Rico.
Thousands of sackpacks are being given to kids through the Office Depot Foundation’s continuing partnerships with 10 nonprofit organizations serving children nationally and internationally. The Foundation is collaborating with the AARP Experience Corps, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), the National Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Association, Feed The Children, Food For The Poor, the Kids In Need Foundation, Zach Bonner’s Little Red Wagon Foundation, the National Foundation for Women Legislators, Operation Homefront and Samaritan’s Feet International.
Thousands more are being donated through Office Depot stores in hundreds of local communities and in partnership with Office Depot’s Business Solutions Division in select cities. For the sixth consecutive year, children of the Navajo Nation in Arizona will receive sackpacks.
More information about the National Backpack Program can be found on the Office Depot Foundation’s Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/
About the Office Depot Foundation
The Office Depot Foundation is an independent foundation − tax exempt under IRC Sec. 501(c)(3) − that serves as the independent charitable giving arm of Office Depot, Inc. In keeping with its mission, Listen Learn Care®, the Foundation supports a variety of programs that give children tools to succeed in school and in life; build the capacity of non-profit organizations through collaboration and innovation; and help communities prepare for disasters, as well as recovering and rebuilding afterwards. For more information, visitwww.officedepotfoundation.org.
