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Award-Winning Program Makes a Difference to 4 Million Kids Since 2001 For most children, the first day of school is an exciting time complete with new clothes and back-to-school gear. But for kids in families where money is tight, the experience can be just the opposite. To make a difference to deserving children like these at the start of the new school year, the Office Depot Foundation will donate 10,000 colorful new sackpacks containing essential school supplies to nonprofit organizations, schools and agencies in South Palm Beach County. The Foundation – the independent charitable giving arm of Office Depot® (NASDAQ:ODP) – will make the donations during a special Back-to-School Celebration beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 26 (7/26) at the Office Depot store located at 14539 Military Trail in Delray Beach. The Foundation is celebrating the 16th year of its award-winning National Backpack Program in 2016 by donating approximately 200,000 sackpacks to children in all 50 states and internationally. During the past nine years, some 63,000 area kids have received tools to succeed in school through this program. By the end of this year, Office Depot and the Office Depot Foundation will have given away more than 4 million backpacks and sackpacks since the National Backpack Program began in 2001. “The sackpacks and school supplies we donate help to level the playing field and give these wonderful children a reason to stand just a little bit taller,” says Office Depot Foundation President Mary Wong. “We believe that every child should have the opportunity to go to school with dignity and hope. We are proud to make a difference in this community again this year.” The nonprofit organizations, schools and agencies scheduled to receive sackpacks on July 26 include: • Achievement Centers for Children and Families • Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse, Inc. (AVDA) • Boca Helping Hands • Boynton Beach Police Department • Caridad Center • Congregation B'nai Israel • Delray Police Department • Hispano-Latino Cultural Alliance • Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County • Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County • Milagro Center • School District of Palm Beach County • Spady Cultural Heritage Museum • Spirit of Giving Network • St. John Primitive Baptist Church • YMCA of South Palm Beach County Special guests expected to participate include: • Victoria Nowlan, Chief Legislative Assistant; Gladys Ferrer, Legislative Assistant to Senator Maria Sachs • Delray Beach Mayor Cary Glickstein • City of Boynton Beach Mayor Steven B. Grant • City of Boca Raton Council Member Robert S. Weinroth • Charity Lewis, Palm Beach Outreach Coordinator for Congresswoman Lois Frankel • Megan White, Assistant to Palm Beach County Mayor Mary Lou Berger • Jill Benson, District Representative for Congressman Ted Deutch Also scheduled to participate is a representative from the National Federation for Women Legislators, one of the Office Depot Foundation’s national nonprofit partners. The specially designed drawstring sackpacks come in seven bright and colorful designs, several of which are new for 2016. Each one includes a zippered pouch containing a pen, pencil, pencil sharpener, eraser, six-inch ruler and four crayons. The sackpacks do not have any Office Depot Foundation or Office Depot logos or markings. To deliver sackpacks directly to children, the Foundation is hosting Back-to-School Celebrations in more than 15 cities across the U.S. in July and August. 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, including the AARP Foundation, the National CASA Association, Feed the Children, Food For The Poor, the Kids In Need Foundation, the National Foundation for Women Legislators and Samaritan’s Feet International. For the eighth consecutive year, children of the Navajo Nation in Arizona will receive sackpacks. Again this year, the Office Depot Foundation has teamed up with Comcast and its Internet Essentials initiative, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption program. Internet Essentials aims to help bridge the digital divide for the millions of students and families who don’t have broadband access and may be missing out on important educational resources. 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/. You can follow the Foundation on Twitter @OfficeDepotFndn; the National Backpack Program’s hashtag is #ODFcares. The Foundation is also on Instagram: @officedepotfoundation. 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 nonprofit organizations through collaboration and innovation; and help communities prepare for disasters, as well as recovering and rebuilding afterwards. For more information, visit www.officedepotfoundation.org.