Make a #depotdifference

By: Danny Bradbury

Source: Office Depot

Not all heroes wear capes—sometimes, they make them for other people. That’s how Office Depot volunteers ended up at Sahuaro Elementary School on 11 May 2019, making custom superhero costumes for students.

The volunteers were there as part of our second Depot Day of Service, which is a nationwide effort by Office Depot associates to serve the community in cities across North America. This year’s effort saw hundreds of employees work on 35 community projects, bringing their friends and family along to help.

The initiative included seven large-scale projects to celebrate National PTA Teacher Appreciation Week. Hundreds of people turned out to beautify elementary schools in Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix and San Francisco.

Phoenix, Arizona-based Sahuaro Elementary was one of the flagship Depot Day of Service projects. After a busy work week, Office Depot volunteers clubbed together with others in their community for a weekend beautifying the school.

“Families, educators, business and community leaders must all work together to support and make a difference for students, schools and communities,” said Amy Arness of the National PTA Board of Directors, who was visiting Sahauro Elementary to see the volunteers in action. “I put out the challenge ‘let’s get to work’, and they took me seriously!”

Volunteers cleaned windows to free up custodial staff for other duties, and tackled a school clean-up to maintain a positive, healthy space for students. They also gave the teacher lounge and conference room a makeover and painted the physical education space in the school’s colors. They even created a custom mural in the music room.

Perhaps one of the most valuable contributions to the school was the creation of a portable storage space for backpacks to keep students’ belongings safe on this outdoor campus.


 

In addition to these elementary school projects, volunteers also worked with Boys & Girls Club chapters. In South Florida, over 300 volunteers worked their magic on the Boys & Girls Club in Delray Beach. They built a new gardening instructional center with plants, mulch, sod, and a stone pathway. They installed a fence around the grounds, painted the Club inside and out, and cleaned the school from top to bottom.


 

Office Depot volunteers across North America also worked at multiple food banks, sorting, packing, and shipping food to local charities.


Back at Sahuaro Elementary, Arness came away impressed. “Not only were we there to help transform a school, we were there to transform a culture into one that truly celebrates putting service above self,” she said.

When volunteers weren’t working on making Sahuaro Elementary’s physical environment better for teachers and students alike, they were working on creating something to boost student confidence and self-esteem. The custom superhero capes they put together will be a special surprise for students to take home on the last day of school.

What better way for this generation of volunteers to inspire and encourage the next?

Read more about how our volunteers make a #depotdifference.