Office Depot, Inc. Donates $200,000 to Youth-Focused Non-Profit Organizations to Help Students Beat the ‘Summer Slide'

Office Depot, Inc. (NASDAQ: ODP), a leading provider of business services, products and technology solutions through an integrated B2B distribution platform, today announced that it is providing $200,000 to select Boys & Girls Clubs across the country as well as other youth-focused non-profit organizations. These donations will help fund programs designed to keep underserved children and teens learning and engaged throughout the summer in an effort to beat summer learning loss, also known as the “summer slide.”

“With the closure of schools earlier this year due to COVID-19, kids attending our Clubs are at a greater risk of falling even further behind their peers,” said Kelly Lemberger, executive vice president of literacy, education and training initiatives for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Philadelphia. “As we work to re-open our Clubs for summer camp programming, Office Depot’s generous donation will help us continue to engage our members in fun, hands-on educational activities, that can help our kids begin the next school year on track to succeed.”

The academic regression that typically occurs during the summer months while students are out of school is said to disproportionately affect students from low-income backgrounds, and due to COVID-19 educational disruptions this year, researchers from the not-for-profit educational assessment provider, Northwest Evaluation Association, project that students may return to school in the fall with roughly 70% of the learning gains in reading relative to a typical school year and less than 50% of the learning gains in math.

To help provide on-site summer camp educational programming and virtual learning opportunities for students in economically distressed neighborhoods, Office Depot is donating $10,000 to each of the following 16 Boys & Girls Club chapters:

• Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley (Arizona)
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast and San Francisco (California)
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver (Colorado)
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County, Palm Beach County and Central Florida (Florida)
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta (Georgia)
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago (Illinois)
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan (Michigan)
• Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities (Minnesota)
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Charlotte (North Carolina)
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania)
• Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area and Greater Tarrant County (Texas)
• Boys & Girls Clubs of King County (Washington)

“Office Depot is proud to support non-profit organizations in communities across the country to help provide underserved students with access to educational tools and programs all summer long,” said Gerry Smith, chief executive officer for Office Depot, Inc. “Despite the new set of challenges brought on by these uncertain times, we remain committed to investing in our youth and providing resources that will help them to feel empowered, confident and ready to tackle the new school year.”

In South Florida, where Office Depot’s headquarters is located, the company will donate additional funds to each of the following non-profit organizations for programming geared towards financial literacy, college preparation and more:

• Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce’s Golden Bell Education Foundation
• Junior Achievement of South Florida
• Path to College
• United Way of Palm Beach County
• YMCA of South Palm Beach County

For more on how Office Depot strengthens communities, empowers education and champions entrepreneurship, please visit www.depotdifference.com.