Fundraising will take place in-store to fulfill arts & crafts requests made by teachers on DonorsChoose.org
SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Coloring is critical to creative expression and early childhood development, yet too many kids are without crayons, markers and coloring pencils. In fact, according to DonorsChoose.org, there are more than 1,700,000 students in the U.S. that are going back to elementary school this fall without adequate access to arts and crafts supplies.
Beginning today, Gymboree, makers of colorful, coordinated clothing collections, will begin raising money in Gymboree and Gymboree Outlet stores, to fund arts and crafts requests made by teachers on DonorsChoose.org. The goal is to fulfill classroom requests in every county where there is a Gymboree retail location.
“Color and creativity is the hallmark of Gymboree,” said Mark Breitbard, Gymboree CEO. “When DonorsChoose.org shared that coloring supplies were one of the top requests made by teachers around the country, we recognized the immediate opportunity to mobilize our customers and employees to help their local schools.”
This past June, Gymboree kicked off its “Let’s Color Together” initiative by surprising a classroom in Oakland, California. Fans can watch the surprise and meet the students, teacher, and Gymboree employees who took part in the fun on Gymboree TV at Gymboree stores or on gymboree.com/colortogether, where they’ll also find colorful, mix-and-match clothing ideas perfect for the back-to-school season. The website also includes creativity-fueling activities and downloadable coloring sheets inspired by the work of the Oakland students.
Gymboree will be accepting donations toward “Let’s Color Together” in Gymboree and Gymboree Outlet stores from July 20 – September 7, 2015. All donations will go toward supporting a local neighborhood classroom (Kindergarten — 5th grade) that has specifically requested art and craft materials via DonorsChoose.org. The money donated goes to projects in the highest-need schools in the donor’s community that has the least amount of time remaining before the project request expires. Even a single dollar supplies a child with a pack of crayons for the year. To learn more about Gymboree or the “Let’s Color Together” initiative, please visit www.gymboree.com/colortogether.
About Gymboree
Gymboree has a nearly 30-year rich heritage in dressing children, newborn to 12 years old. Gymboree offers colorful, head-to-toe clothing and accessory collections – quality clothes that let kids be kids. Gymboree is part of The Gymboree Corporation family which began in 1976 with Gymboree Play & Music, offering parent-child play programs. Today, along with franchised and company-operated Gymboree Play & Music locations, The Gymboree Corporation operates three specialty retail brands – Gymboree, Crazy 8, and Janie and Jack – offering unique, high-quality products delivered with personalized customer service in more than 1300 stores worldwide and on www.gymboree.com, http://www.crazy8.com and www.janieandjack.com.
About DonorsChoose.org
DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need. Public school teachers from every corner of America post classroom project requests, and you can give any amount to the project that most inspires you. When a project reaches its funding goal, DonorsChoose.org ships the materials to the school. No money is ever transacted between DonorsChoose.org and teachers — only materials.
