Carl Edwards Distributes Backpacks for Office Depot

NASCAR star Carl Edwards gave out backpacks to school children in Indianapolis yesterday as part of an charitable initiative of the Office Depot Foundation.

Edwards, who drives the No. 99 Office Depot Ford in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, was on hand at a Office Depot in downtown Indianapolis to help give out 2,2450 backpacks to non-profit organizations and schools in the Indianapolis area. The “Backpack Donation Day” is precedes Edwards’ participation in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard race on Sunday.

Before he became a stock car driver, Edwards was a substitute school teacher in his Columbia, MO hometown.

The backpacks for this year’s effort came in five different color schemes, including blending orange, blue, purple, green and pink. Intended to provide students in grade K-5 with basic classroom necessities, they each contained a ruler, four crayons, a glue stick, a pen, pencil, pencil sharpener and an eraser.

Organizations representing the students receiving the backpacks included Indianapolis Public Schools, the Metropolitan School District of Perry Township, Bridges to Success/United Way of Indiana, Children’s Bureau, Inc., Covering Kids & Families, Educational Choice Charitable Trust and the Indianapolis Urban League.

“By placing backpacks containing essential school supplies into the hands of children, we are giving them important tools they need to start school with confidence The Office Depot Foundation, ,” said Office Depot Foundation President Mary Wong, in a statement.

Office Depot’s charitable arm, will distribute a total of 300,000 backpacks through non-profit organizations and schools in the U.S. and Canada this year. The National Backpack Program has distributed nearly 1.8 million backpacks to schoolchildren since it was begun in 2001.