Go Back to School with Companies that Give Back to School

Image by Fasial Faisal courtesy of vecteezy

Go Back to School with Companies that Give Back to School

by Sweiskloss
August 14, 2025

Notebooks, pencils and pens, backpacks… The list of back-to-school items is endless and increasingly costly. We always recommend reusing and recycling items from last year, but if you are in the market for some new supplies, try making purchases with companies that also give back to schools, students and teachers in need through product donations. According to United Way, approximately “16 million kids lack access to essential school supplies. This means about one in every four students – or 25% of students in the US – can’t afford school supplies.” The below organizations are trying to remedy this disparity. Yoobui
“You Buy, Yoobi Gives” is not just a slogan, but Yoobi’s mission. In their commitment to ensuring all students have essential supplies, for every qualifying item purchased, Yoobi donates school supplies to their Classroom Packs (425 supplies for the entire class), which are distributed through their partnership with Kids in Need Foundation. To date they have donated 95,757,380 school supplies according to their website. Ranging from colorful notebooks to fun reusable snack bags their products are stylish and eco-friendly (minimal packaging, little to no plastic use, responsibility sourced plant-based materials, renewable and recycled resources). (https://yoobi.com/) Sydney Paige
According to their website, over 3.8 million backpacks, books, and school supplies have been donated since Sydney Paige launched their backpack campaign. What started as a one-to-one model has now evolved into a larger charitable program. Go online to donate one of their high quality and stylish backpacks filled with notebooks, folders, pencil case, crayons and more. Working with local communities, they also arrange giveaways where kids can pick their own cool backpack filled with age-appropriate supplies and books. (https://www.sydneypaige.org) Office Depot
Office Depot’s Give Back to Schools program allows customers to give back to their local schools. It’s as easy as ABC: A buyer purchases a qualifying item and provides their school’s ID number at checkout, 5% of the total is then given to the school in the form of credits for classroom supplies. According to Office Depot, “the program has provided more than $38 million in credits.” (https://tinyurl.com/OfficeDepotGiveBack). Walmart
Walmart’s Spark Good does good for schools across the country. Schools create a registry of needed items that customers can purchase and send directly to them. Additionally, customers can round up their total at checkout and donate their change to a school of their choice. (https://www.walmart.com/nonprofits). Target
Non-profit 501c(3)s, accredited schools or public agencies, such as public schools and libraries, can request a Target GiftCard donation. Verified teachers also receive discounts. (https://corporate.target.com/sustainability-governance/communities). You can also make donations to organizations that distribute school supplies directly to teachers or students in need. Check out some of these organizations: Kids in Need donates a box of school supplies through the Supply a Teacher program (https://www.kinf.org); AdoptAClassroom partners with companies like Subaru and Burlington to raise funds and provide goods to high-needs schools (https://www.adoptaclassroom.org/); Donate to a teacher’s wish list of classroom items, or even fund a specific experience on DonorsChoose (https://www.donorschoose.org/teachers); Make a donation to help purchase items to fill backpacks, or even purchase a completely filled one with Operation Backpack (https://www.voa.org/operation-backpack-2025/); Back 2 School America uses donated funds to distribute kits full of essential school supplies (https://b2sa.org/). Score an “A” and help students in need in your community start the school year supplied for success. Like our very own Jessica Handy. As President of the Santa Monica Police Activities League, every year she helps hand out approximately 100 backpacks loaded with school supplies to elementary, middle and high school students at PAL. The free backpacks are funded by the Kiwanis Club of Santa Monica.