Office Depot Foundation, Carl Edwards give backpacks to Miami kids

MIAMI Office Depot, through its Office Depot Foundation, with the help of Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Office Depot Ford in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, will donate more than 6,500 backpacks to non-profit organizations and schools in Miami-Dade County on Wednesday, Aug. 6. Through its National Backpack Program, the Office Depot Foundation has provided nearly 1.8 million free backpacks to children since 2001.

Through this year’s National Backpack Program, the Office Depot Foundation is donating 300,000 backpacks to a variety of non-profit organizations and schools across the United States and Canada. The recipients, in turn, provide the backpacks to deserving children whom they serve through their programs or in their classrooms. The Foundation will also host backpack presentation events in Fort Lauderdale, Delray Beach and West Palm Beach on Aug. 6.

“Education is the foundation for success, and I’m really excited to partner with Office Depot and the Office Depot Foundation for another season of backpack donations,” said Edwards, a former substitute teacher, who is sponsored by South Florida-based Office Depot. “Every student deserves to return to school with the tools they need to succeed, and the Office Depot Foundation is doing a great thing to make that happen for so many kids who might not otherwise have the necessary resources.”

Office Depot Foundation president Mary Wong says that making a difference to children is precisely the point of the National Backpack Program. “By placing backpacks containing essential school supplies into the hands of children, we are giving them important tools they need to start school with confidence--and to succeed throughout the year,” she said. “The National Backpack Program is one of the key ways in which we seek to accomplish the Foundation’s mission--Listen Learn Care--and to achieve our strategic priority of helping children get ready for life and work.”