SUSTAINABILITY TOPICS

During August, YKK USA's headquarters in Marietta, Georgia decided to sponsor Lockheed Elementary School by raising money and purchasing school supplies. This fundraiser was fostered by YKK USA's Vice President of Human Resources, Chris Carroll, during a meeting of YKK USA Marietta's wellness committee. I work in the company's accounts receivable department, and I thought of collecting school supplies, while Toni Maney, who works in the company's inside sales department, thought of having some jeans days where employees could pay $2.00 to wear their jeans, and the money would go towards purchasing school supplies.

In addition, we had a collection box where our employees could donate money, and some employees even purchased some school supplies themselves.

Having volunteered as a tutor at an elementary school, I have seen first-hand teachers supplying children out of their own pocket to make sure they had the best learning experience possible. The budget that most teachers are allotted is diminished early during the school year because of cuts in school funding. Teachers are faced with paying for books, pens, pencils and other basic supplies that schools have provided in the past. Statistics show that K-12th grade teachers spend on average around $500 of their own money to create an optimum learning experience. We are stronger together, and we must do our part to support our community.

On August 30th, we donated 600 school supplies that we collected to Lockheed Elementary, and all of the teachers were grateful. Our donation helped them to save hundreds of dollars.