NASCAR star Tony Stewart to donate 4,000 backpacks to
Atlanta-area kids in need
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Contacts:
Lisa Schmitz Leon Rubin
Edelman for Office Depot Racing Office Depot Foundation
312-240-2604 (office) 706-867-0278 (office)
773-459-5337 (mobile) 561-251-8075 (mobile)
lisa.schmitz@edelman.com lrubin@jkggroup.com
NASCAR DRIVER TONY STEWART AND THE OFFICE DEPOT FOUNDATION TEAM UP TO DONATE 4,000 BACKPACKS TO ATLANTA-AREA CHILDREN IN NEED
National Backpack Program Celebrates 2-Millionth Backpack Donated
Atlanta, September 1, 2009 * Office Depot(r) , a leading global provider of office products and services, and the Office Depot Foundation announced today that NASCAR star Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala SS in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series(tm), will join the Foundation on Thursday, September 3, to donate 4,000 backpacks to non-profit organizations and schools in the Atlanta area.
The donations will be made during a special "Back-to-School Backpack Celebration" beginning at 4 p.m. local time at the Office Depot store located at 2625 Piedmont Road in Atlanta. In addition to Stewart, special guests scheduled to attend include Karen E. Rogers, Director, City of Atlanta Weed and Seed, representing Mayor Shirley Franklin, and Ivy Green, daughter of Georgia State Representative Sharon Beasley-Teague.
This year, the Office Depot Foundation celebrates an extraordinary milestone as it donates its 2-millionth backpack since the inception of the National Backpack Program in 2001.
"The Office Depot Foundation believes strongly that we are helping children to build self-confidence, boost self-esteem and achieve greater success in the classroom - all as a result of being well-prepared for school," said Foundation President Mary Wong. "We are extremely pleased to be able to donate our 2-millionth backpack at a time when so many children and families are dealing with the impact of the economic downturn."
Stewart, a two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and current Cup Series points leader, will help host the event as he prepares for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series(tm) Pep Boys Auto 500 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (Sunday, Sept. 6, 7 p.m. EDT, ESPN). He is a two-time Cup Series race winner at the 1.54-mile track.
"I'm very proud to partner with Office Depot and the Office Depot Foundation to donate 4,000 backpacks to Atlanta-area kids in need and help give them an extra boost of confidence as they begin the new school year," said Stewart, who has taken on the role of driver/team owner with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009. "Education is the foundation for success no matter what career you choose, and it means a lot to me to be part of such a terrific program."
The non-profit organizations and schools selected to participate in the September 3 backpack donation event include:
* Allen Rossum's Healthy Kids Klub
* Atlanta Public Schools
* City of Atlanta Weed and Seed
* CaringWorks
* CHRIS Kids Inc.
* City of Refuge
* Communities In Schools of Atlanta
* Easter Seals North Georgia
* Hines Ward's Helping Hands Foundation
* Ron Clark Academy
* Safehouse Outreach
* Walter F. White Elementary School
* Women's Resource Center to End Domestic Violence
To distribute its backpacks in 2009, the Foundation is hosting 25 "Back-to-School Backpack Celebrations" in cities across the U.S. and Canada - five of which feature Tony Stewart. Thousands of backpacks also are being donated by Office Depot stores in hundreds of local communities and in collaboration with Office Depot's Business Solutions Division in select cities.
Thousands more backpacks will be distributed through the Office Depot Foundation's partnerships with several national non-profit organizations - including the Tony Stewart Foundation, the National Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Association, City Year, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), Feed The Children, the Kids In Need Foundation, Nourish America and the National Foundation for Women Legislators, whose members will give backpacks to children in all 50 states. For the second consecutive year, backpack donations will be made to children of the Navajo Nation in Arizona and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.
For Office Depot store locations, please click on Office Depot: Your Local Office Supply Store<http://www.officedepot.com/storelocator/input.do?inventoryLocationUpdatable=true> to find locations near you.
For more information on the Office Depot Foundation, go to www.officedepotfoundation.org/.
For more information about Office Depot Racing with Tony Stewart, go to http://mediarelations.officedepot.cc/racing/default.asp.
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(r), 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
Every day, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides products and services to its customers through 1,593 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and a $4.3 billion e-commerce operation. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $14.5 billion, and employs about 42,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 47 countries.
Office Depot's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com.
