NORTH KINGSTOWN – Local discount retailer Ocean State Job Lot has donated 34,000 backpacks to children in need who are getting ready for the next school year.
The donations were part of Job Lot’s annual “Buy-Give-Get” backpack program, which began July 25. Customers were encouraged to purchase a $15 backpack to give back to the company and would be donated to a child, Job Lot said. The company said all the backpacks earmarked for the program were sold out in a little more than two weeks.
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The backpacks were filled with back-to-school items and distributed in partnership with the USA Veterans and Military Support Foundation, as well as various support agencies and state police departments across the region, Job Lot said.
“We are fortunate to have some of the most generous and loyal customers out there,” Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foundation Executive Director David Sarlitto said in a statement. “Despite supply chain issues that delayed our shipment of backpacks, our customers stepped up to the plate and we accumulated more donated backpacks in a shorter window this year than we did over the four weeks of last year’s program.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
