Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE: ODP), a leading global provider of office
supplies and services, and the Office
Depot Foundation today announced that Tony Stewart, driver of the
No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet in the NASCAR® Sprint Cup Series™,
will join the Foundation to donate 6,000 new sackpacks
to non-profit organizations, schools, agencies in the Indianapolis area.
The Office
Depot Foundation will present the sackpacks,
which contain essential school
supplies, during a special “Back-to-School Celebration” beginning at
3:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday, July 25 at the Office
Depot store located at 4200 S. East St. in Indianapolis. In addition
to Stewart, special guests scheduled to attend include State
Representative Cindy Noe; Jeff Cardwell, Indianapolis-Marion County
City-County Councilor for District 23; Daniel Moriarty, Perry Township
Trustee; and Ginny Cain, Central Indiana Regional Director for U.S.
Senator Dan Coats; and Mike Brown, and Indiana Senator Mike Delph.
Stewart, who grew up and still resides in Columbus, Ind., is partnering
with the Office
Depot Foundation for the fourth consecutive year to support the
Foundation’s National
Backpack Program, which is donating 400,000 sackpacks
throughout the 2012 back-to-school season – the most sackpacks
given out in a single year.
During the past five years, the Office
Depot Foundation, has donated more than 25,000 backpacks and
sackpacks to Indianapolis-area children. By the end of this year, the
National Backpack Program will have helped more than 2.9 million kids
worldwide since 2001.
“This is my fourth year teaming up with the Office
Depot Foundation and I couldn’t be happier to help kick off its National
Backpack Program in my home state of Indiana,” said Stewart, the
three-time and reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. “The
back-to-school season is an important time of year for every child, and
I’m truly looking forward to providing Indianapolis organizations with
some really cool sackpacks
filled with essential school
supplies to help local kids-in-need feel confident in the classroom.”
The non-profit organizations, schools and agencies scheduled to receive sackpacks
during the Back-to-School Celebration on July 25 include:
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Backpack Attack
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Camp Riley/Riley Hospital for Children
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Children’s Bureau
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Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention (CHIP)
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Covering Kids and Families of Central Indiana
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Drug Free Marion County
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Family Fun Filled Inc.
-
Goodness and Mercy
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Happy Hollow Children’s Camp
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Indianapolis Public Schools
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Indianapolis Urban League
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Kids In Need Foundation
-
Metropolitan School District of Perry Township
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Robey Elementary School
-
Teachers’ Treasures/Kids In Need Foundation
-
The Tony Stewart Foundation
National Backpack Program
Through the National
Backpack Program, which is now in its 12th year, the
Office Depot Foundation helps deserving children prepare for school by
donating specially designed sackpacks
across the United States and internationally. The sackpacks,
which come in seven colorful designs, reflect and respond to changes in
the ways that children are taking their materials to school.
“Time and time again, children, parents and teachers tell us how big of
a difference these sackpacks
and school supplies make to them,” said Mary Wong, President of the
Office Depot Foundation, who will participate in the event. “It is
incredibly gratifying to know that, with a new sackpack,
children are able to start school with their heads held high and smiles
on their faces – just like all their friends.”
Wong noted that these sackpacks are not branded with an Office Depot or
Office Depot Foundation logo. “This is truly a philanthropic program,
and we are proud to say that we have continued to expand it in each of
the past three years,” she said.
To provide its sackpacks
to children in 2012, the Office
Depot Foundation is hosting more than 25 “Back-to-School
Celebrations” in cities across the U.S. and in Puerto Rico – five of
which will include Stewart. Thousands of sackpacks
also are being donated through Office
Depot stores in hundreds of local communities and in collaboration
with Office Depot’s Business Solutions Division in select cities.
Thousands more are being given to kids through the Office Depot
Foundation’s collaborations with 12 prominent non-profit organizations:
AARP Experience Corps., the National Court Appointed Special Advocates
(CASA) Association, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA),
Feed The Children, the Kids In Need Foundation, Zach Bonner’s Little Red
Wagon Foundation, the National Foundation for Women Legislators,
Operation Homefront, Speedway Children’s Charities, the Tony Stewart
Foundation and – adding to the program’s a global scope – Food For The
Poor and Samaritan’s Feet International. For the fifth consecutive year,
donations also will be made to children of the Navajo Nation in Arizona.
In addition, Feed The Children’s special Office Depot/Office Depot
Foundation tractor-trailer will be on-site for the Indianapolis event to
highlight its partnership with the Foundation.
More information about the National
Backpack Program can be found on the Office Depot Foundation’s
Facebook page at www.facebook.com/officedepotfoundation.
For information on the Office Depot Foundation and its initiatives, go
to www.officedepotfoundation.org/.
You can follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/officedepotfndn.
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 help children succeed in school and in life; enable civil society
(non-profit) organizations to become more efficient and effective; help
people and businesses prepare for disasters, then recover and rebuild
afterwards; strengthen local communities through grants, product
donations and volunteerism; and encourage community development through
entrepreneurship and economic innovation. For more information, visit www.officedepotfoundation.org.
About Office Depot
Office Depot provides office supplies and services through 1,678
worldwide retail
stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs, and global
e-commerce operations. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately
$11.5 billion, employs about 39,000 associates, and serves customers in
60 countries around the world.
Office Depot’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol ODP. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com
and http://socialpress.officedepot.com/.
Note to media: These sackpacks are not available to the general
public. They are being donated only to the designated recipients named
below.
