Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Office Depot Foundation Donates 100,000 Sackpacks With School Supplies

  • 07/28/17

Boca Raton, Fla. – For the past 17 years, the Office Depot Foundation has donated more than 4 million sackpacks to children around the world as part of its National Backpack Program. This summer, the Foundation, which is the independent charitable giving arm of Office Depot, Inc., will be donating 100,000 colorful new sackpacks to nonprofit organizations, schools and agencies across the United States and internationally.

“It is our mission to make sure that every child has the right tools to achieve success in school,” said Mary Wong, president of the Office Depot Foundation. “School is challenging enough on its own, and when you’re unable to come prepared with the basic essentials for learning, it’s nearly impossible. We want to give every kid a fair chance.”

To deliver sackpacks directly to children, the Foundation is hosting Back-to-School celebrations in select cities across the U.S. in July and August. This year, in addition to donating sackpacks to children who need them most, the Foundation is highlighting the importance of STEM and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) programs in our nation’s schools. To encourage kids to explore these important curriculums, the Foundation has partnered with Captain Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour, America’s first African American female combat pilot, who will make special guest appearances at the Foundation’s Back-To-School celebrations in Los Angeles and Chicago.

Thousands more sackpacks are being given to kids through the Office Depot Foundation’s continuing partnerships with a number of nonprofit organizations serving children nationally and globally. The Foundation is collaborating with Food For The Poor, Feed the Children, the Kids In Need Foundatin, the National Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Association, the National Foundation for Women Legislators and the AARP Foundation.

The specially designed, drawstring-style sackpacks come in seven bright and fun colors. Each one includes a zippered pouch containing a pen, pencil, pencil sharpener, eraser, six-inch ruler and four crayons.

More information about the National Backpack Program can be found on the Office Depot Foundation’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/officedepotfoundation. To learn more about the Office Depot Foundation and its initiatives, go to www.officedepotfoundation.org/.

Featured

  • University of Kansas Breaks Ground on Entrepreneurship Hub

    The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new KU Entrepreneurship Hub, according to university news. The Hub is part of the university’s School of Business and will include spaces for experiential learning and programming.

  • Vanderbilt to Partner with ABM for Campus Preservation and Modernization

    Vanderbilt University recently announced that it has selected ABM Performance Solutions for a preservation and modernization project at its New York City campus, according to a news release. ABM will deliver its end-to-end ABM Performance Solutions (APS) model to manage critical operations during renovation and maintenance.

  • Houston-Area High School Breaks Ground on 117,000SF Multi-Use Facility

    North Shore Senior High School, part of Galena Park ISD in Houston, Texas, recently broke ground on a new multi-use facility for student extracurriculars, according to a news release. The North Shore Multi-Use Facility will include dedicated practice and training space for the school’s athletics and fine arts programs.

  • Universities Continue to Launch Multimillion-Dollar Campus Transformations

    What makes the current wave of campus development especially noteworthy is its emphasis on multi-use functionality and community integration. Institutions are no longer investing solely in academic or athletic facilities in isolation. Instead, they are creating destinations that blend recreation, health, housing, and event-driven economic activity.