Helping students start the school year right

Each year, employees like Cleveland Contact Center Supervisor John Bailey help kids across the country who otherwise would have a tougher-than-usual return to school in the fall. These are students whose back-to-school butterflies include stress about having basic supplies—notebooks, book covers, even simple personal items that others take for granted.

In July and August 2011, we held school supply drives in our large offices across the country. The drives netted more than 6,500 items. We then donated the supplies to students and teachers through several organizations:

Kids in Need Resource Center in Cleveland

Wickliffe City Schools (Cleveland area)

Project 680 in Sacramento, Calif.

The United Way in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Hillsborough Education Foundation in Tampa, Fla.

“The school supply drives are a really a fun way to give back to our community,” says John, who coordinates our Cleveland efforts. “In 2011, I was one of the people who delivered the supplies to the charity we work with, and it really gave us a good feeling to know we did a small part to make a difference for these students.”

Thanks to the generosity of hundreds of employees like John, many of these students start school every year with the supplies they need.