To help support families of children going back to school, Lenovo employees participated in Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s (BGCA) school supply drive from August 5-21. Employees donated approximately 75,000 items, an increase from the record-breaking 50,000 items collected from the drive in 2014.

      Lenovo aims to advance, enhance and extend education at all levels to enable the next generation of thinkers and leaders. Specifically, the company is committed to supporting educational programs that serve economically disadvantaged K-12 students. This supply drive helped to lessen families’ financial burden at the beginning of the new school year so that students could start classes strong and prepared. In 2015, the annual Backpack Index from Huntington Bank reported that families with three children, including one in elementary, middle and high school, can expect to pay up to $3,000 for school supplies and extracurricular activities this school year. If this family were living at the poverty level line, this cost would consume as much as 10 percent of their annual income.        

        Seven Boys & Girls Clubs throughout the nation – including four in North Carolina, one in Camden, New Jersey, one at Fort Hamilton in New York and one at Fort Belvoir in Virginia – each received 10,000 items from the Lenovo supply caravan. Smaller giveaways were also hosted in Rochester, Minnesota; Kirkland, Washington; Santa Clara, California and Fort Wayne, Indiana. In addition to the school supplies, two Yoga laptops and 11 Chromebooks were donated to the Brentwood Club in Raleigh and the Fort Hamilton Club in New York to be used as student rewards for academic excellence throughout the school year.

         For several years, Lenovo employees have come together to help Boys & Girls Clubs start the school year strong. Boys & Girls Clubs serve nearly four million kids and teens at more than 4,100 locations, and deliver critical resources for communities. They provide youth with the tools they need to be successful in the classroom and achieve great futures.        

Employees from Lenovo’s business partners, Intel and Microsoft, also donated items to help support the drive.       

QUOTES:
  “Lenovo was proud to participate in this year’s school supply drive for Boys & Girls Clubs of America,” said Scott Ottman, vice president of Lenovo North America Inside Sales. “It is important that we help children who need us most, both within our community and across the nation, with the tools necessary to have a bright and successful future.”      

"We are grateful Lenovo for their tremendous support, generating much-needed resources for Boys & Girls Clubs around the country during this back-to-school season,” said Jim Clark, BGCA president and CEO. “It’s critical that we provide kids and teens with tools to be successful and these contributions help equip our Clubs with resources that generate an enriching and fun learning environment.”