Newell Rubbermaid today announced on its third-annual Global Day of Service it will donate $3 million in school supplies, as part of the company's partnership with The Kids In Need Foundation. Approximately 3,500 employees in 23 countries will be at 105 sites volunteering their talents and time to complete projects that will improve the educational experience for youth and young adults.
 
In 16 U.S. cities, Newell Rubbermaid will work with The Kids In Need Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that provides free school supplies nationally to students most in need, to donate 10,000 backpacks for students and 8,200 "Teacher Toolboxes" for teachers beginning today through the end of the school year. Each "Teacher Toolbox" includes Sharpie® markers and highlighters; Paper Mate® pens, pencils and erasers; Expo® markers; and Mr. Sketch® markers packaged in a Rubbermaid® storage container.
 
While volunteering at Dunwoody Springs Elementary School in Atlanta, Ga., Newell Rubbermaid President and Chief Executive OfficerMichael Polk said, "Newell Rubbermaid is committed to giving back in the communities we serve through our focus on education. As the global leader in the Writing Instrument business, we are dedicated to providing access to tools that help our next generation succeed in school and life. We're proud that today's donation will provide approximately 130,000 teachers and 3.7 million students with the pens, pencils, highlighters, and markers they need to achieve more this school year."
 
Of the donated supplies, 6,700 "Teacher Toolboxes" will be provided to teachers at Fulton County School Systems' 101 schools and eight select schools will receive 5,500 backpacks in Newell Rubbermaid's headquarters city of Atlanta, Ga.
 
"Newell Rubbermaid understands that children need the proper tools in order to learn and succeed in school, and not all children go to school with a backpack filled with supplies," said Dave Smith, executive director, The Kids In Need Foundation. "With the proper school supplies, students' classroom behavior improves and grades go up, because kids feel they have a better chance of achieving in the classroom. Newell Rubbermaid is once again stepping up to provide supplies so that more students can have confidence in the classroom this year."
 
During this year's Global Day of Service, Newell Rubbermaid also partnered with Points of Light, the world's largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, to identify volunteer projects for employees that serve the unique, education-focused needs in select communities globally. As part of this partnership, Newell Rubbermaid employees are participating in school beautification projects, tutoring sessions with students, and literacy fairs and festivals.
 
"We value Newell Rubbermaid's longstanding support of our mission to inspire, equip and mobilize people to take action that changes the world," said Tracy Hoover, CEO of Points of Light. "We're excited to bring our HandsOn Network affiliates together with Newell Rubbermaid's employee volunteers for Global Day of Service projects focused on education."