Office Depot Collecting Money for Bay Schools

By S. Brady Calhoun, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

Jun. 15–PANAMA CITY — Back when he was a classroom teacher, Bill Husfelt, Mosley High School’s principal, stayed on the lookout for sales.

But Husfelt was not looking for clothes, vehicles or food. The former economics, government and history teacher perused sales papers and local stores for discounts on paper and pencils. Husfelt said he dug into his own pocket to buy at least a case of paper each year.

He is not alone. Teachers spend about $400 each a year on school supplies, according to the National Education Association.

Office supply retailer Office Depot has its own way of helping struggling teachers and schools. Since 1999, the chain has given 5 percent of each sale back to education. The total donation in store credit through the Office Depot 5 Percent Back to Schools Program has been $12 million. The money has gone to 36,000 schools nationwide.

The program also allows customers to decide what school will get the store credit based on their purchase, said Office Depot spokeswoman Melissa Perlman. Two years ago, Office Depot announced that the 5-percent program would change from a periodic annual promotion to a yearlong event.

In 2005, Bay County schools received $31,000 through the program. Mosley got the most with $3,844, said Robert Hill, Office Depot’s district manager in charge of 14 Panhandle stores.

“That’s just free money,” Hill said. “We don’t add 5 percent to their bill.”

Perlman described the program as a way “to help out the communities in which we both work and live in.”

Ellie Spivey, principal of Patronis Elementary School, said the Office Depot money goes directly to the Parent Teacher Association and that it decides how the money is spent. Last year, the school got more than $800, said PTA President Martha Peak.

Most of the money went for paper and computer-ink cartridges, Peak said. Patronis has more than 1,000 students, so one newsletter drains the school of both supplies, she said.

When Mosley’s credit comes in each year, the Mosley School Advisory Council discusses how it should be spent, Husfelt said. During the last couple of years, council members have put the money into Office Depot gift cards that are then given to teachers and a few students as prizes.

“It’s a neat way for us to give back to the teachers, mainly,” Husfelt said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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