Skip to content

Back to school: Staples’ Stock the Lockers reaches out to those in need

Staples with a number of elementary and middle schools to ensure that no child goes without the necessities of education
43072vicnewsStocklockersAug1514
Gerry Denis

With back-to-school season fast approaching, Staples is once again collecting donations for their Stock the Lockers fundraiser.

The office supply retailer has partnered with a number of elementary and middle schools, as well as the 1Up Single Parent Resource Centre, to ensure that no child goes without the necessities when school starts up again.

Staples is collecting cash donations until the first day of school. Proceeds from those efforts will purchase a back-to-school kit for any child whose family can’t afford it. The way it works is parents let their schools know if they need help, then the schools send a list of every child in need to Staples. The store, in turn, sends out the kits, which can be delivered anonymously through the schools.

The kits, part of the company’s School Tools program, are new this year for Staples stores in Western Canada. They give parents the chance to buy a put-together pack at a fixed price for their kids while avoiding the shopping chaos that abounds in late August.

As well as binders, pens and art supplies, the kits also contain coupons from many local businesses including Pizza Hut, the YMCA and Pita Pit.

For Gerry Denis, general manager of the Langford Staples, giving back to the community is one of the most important things the company does.

“Whenever you’re dealing with education, it’s so important to support any causes that lead to better education and equal opportunities,” he says.

It can be devastating for a child to go without or not have the same things as his or her peers, he says, and the School Tools kits help to put every child on a more equal footing, regardless of whether the kit was purchased by a parent or by Staples.

“It’s the right thing to do,” he says.