CADCA Joins Office Depot Foundation in ‘Sackpack’ Donation to Help DC-Area Children Avoid Drugs and Succeed in School

CADCA Joins Office Depot Foundation in ‘Sackpack’ Donation to Help DC-Area Children Avoid Drugs and Succeed in School 

Washington, D.C. – If you put together all 2.5 million kids who the Office Depot Foundation has reached through its National Backpack Program since 2001, they would fill up about 50,000 school buses! That’s a lot of kids – and a lot of success stories.

On Wednesday, Sept. 7, the Foundation and its partner, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), will donate 2,600 ‘sackbacks’ to each and every student at the Two Rivers Public Charter School. The Foundation and CADCA will present the ‘sackpacks’ to the children—complete with school supplies—during a special back-to-school celebration at 10:20 a.m.
 
In 2011, the Foundation – the independent charitable giving arm of Office Depot® (NYSE:ODP) – will donate 350,000 cool new ‘sackpacks’ in five colorful designs to deserving children served by non-profit organizations and schools in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and internationally. Each sackpack comes with a zippered pouch containing essential school supplies, including a pen, pencil, pencil sharpener, eraser, 6” ruler and crayons. The newly designed sackpacks, which were specially created for the Foundation, reflect and respond to changes in the ways that children are taking their materials to school.

“In keeping with our mission – Listen, Learn, Care. − we’ve created these fun and exciting sackpacks in response to what kids have told us they like,” says Foundation President Mary Wong. “We are thrilled to donate these very cool sackpacks to more children in a single year than ever before. “Every year, we have seen our donations bring hope to children whose families might not be able to afford to buy school supplies,” Wong continues. “Parents and teachers alike tell us that we truly are helping children to build self-confidence, boost self-esteem and achieve greater success in the classroom – all as a result of being properly prepared for school.”

CADCA works daily to make America’s communities safe, healthy and drug-free. To further support the leadership development of our nation’s youth, CADCA created the National Youth Leadership Initiative. The NYLI equips youth with the essential knowledge and skills needed to make significant community-level change.

CADCA’s Chairman and CEO, Gen. Arthur T. Dean says, “Through this partnership with the Office Depot Foundation, we are looking forward to continuing and cultivating our relationship with Two Rivers Public Charter School and conducting youth leadership and substance use and abuse prevention training with these fine young people.”

The NYLI provides youth-driven training for the next generation of coalition leaders and community problem solvers. The return-of-investment for CADCA is simple: Youth are deeply vested in community change; empowered by the implementation of Youth in Action projects which contribute to population-level reduction in substance use and abuse.

“We are grateful that CADCA and The Office Depot Foundation have selected our students to receive this generous donation. To our students, this donation will be useful and fun. To the school it symbolizes a commitment by CADCA and The Office Depot Foundation to the education and development of our students. We are thrilled with their generosity and excited by their commitment,” says Two Rivers Public Charter School’s Executive Director, Jessica K. Wodatch.

Wodatch is scheduled to participate in the presentation along with Mary Wong, General Dean, and other invited guests. Media will be able to interview students and administrators as well as tour the school.