Best Buddies International Partners With Office Depot to Employ Individuals With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
December 06 2021 - 1:06PM
Business Wire
Statewide Support Will Generate a Culture of
Inclusion, Employ People With Disabilities and Allow for Employee
Engagement in Both Florida and California
Best Buddies International, a nonprofit organization
dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates
opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment,
leadership development, and inclusive living for people with
intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), is excited to
announce that it is partnering with Office Depot, a leading
provider of business services, products and digital workplace
technology solutions through an integrated B2B distribution
platform with an online presence and approximately 1,100 Office
Depot and OfficeMax stores, in an effort to hire
participants from Best Buddies jobs programs throughout the states
of Florida and California.
“Best Buddies is incredibly honored and grateful to partner with
Office Depot in support of individuals with intellectual and
developmental disabilities,” said Andi Allen, State Director
of Best Buddies in Florida. “Their dedication to the Best Buddies
mission of inclusion and integrated employment will help bring an
even greater awareness to the infinite abilities people with IDD
possess.”
The Best Buddies Jobs program secures integrated
employment for people with IDD, allowing them to earn an income,
pay taxes, and continuously and independently support themselves.
Through the Jobs program, Best Buddies develops partnerships with
employers, assists with the hiring process and provides ongoing
support to the employee and employer. Many businesses have seen the
benefits of hiring individuals with IDD, such as gaining
dependable, motivated employees; promoting an inclusive and diverse
workforce; and improving customer satisfaction.
“At Office Depot, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and
supportive workplace, where all individuals are treated equally,
fairly and respectfully,” said Ellen Bishop, vice president of
retail strategy & operations for Office Depot. “We are
proud to team up with Best Buddies to expand our hiring in Florida
and California, which will help provide opportunities for people
with IDD to grow and succeed.”
Office Depot has a robust Associate Resource Group (ARG)
program, including the STAND (See Talent, Ability, Not Disability)
ARG, which was created to foster a caring culture for associates
who have seen and unseen disabilities, caregivers for people with
seen and unseen disabilities, and people who are passionate in
being allies for people with seen and unseen disabilities. One of
the STAND ARG’s goals is to be an advocate for change by promoting
recruitment, employment and retention for people with
disabilities.
ABOUT BEST BUDDIES
INTERNATIONAL:
Best Buddies® is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to
establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities
for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership
development and inclusive living for people with intellectual and
developmental disabilities. Founded in 1989 by Anthony K. Shriver,
Best Buddies is a vibrant organization that has grown from one
original chapter to nearly 2,900 middle school, high school, and
college chapters worldwide. Today, Best Buddies’ nine formal
programs — Middle Schools, High Schools, Colleges, Citizens,
e-Buddies® , Jobs, Ambassadors, Promoters and Inclusive Living—
engage participants in each of the 50 states and in 56 countries,
positively impacting the lives of nearly 700,000 people with and
without disabilities around the world. In many cases, as a result
of their involvement with Best Buddies, people with intellectual
and developmental disabilities secure rewarding jobs, live on their
own, become inspirational leaders, and make lifelong friendships.
For more information, please visit www.bestbuddies.org,
www.facebook.com/bestbuddies or www.twitter.com/bestbuddies.
ABOUT OFFICE DEPOT:
Office Depot, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of The ODP
Corporation (NASDAQ:ODP), a leading provider of business services
and supplies, products and digital workplace technology solutions
to small, medium and enterprise businesses, through an integrated
business-to-business (B2B) distribution platform, which includes
world-class supply chain and distribution operations, dedicated
sales professionals and technicians, online presence, and
approximately 1,100 stores. Through its banner brands Office Depot®
and OfficeMax®, as well as others, the company offers its customers
the tools and resources they need to focus on their passion of
starting, growing and running their business. For more information,
visit news.theodpcorp.com and follow @officedepot on Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram.
ODP and Office Depot are trademarks of The Office Club, Inc.
OfficeMax is a trademark of OMX, Inc. CompuCom is a trademark of
CompuCom Systems, Inc. Grand&Toy is a trademark of Grand &
Toy, LLC in Canada. ©2021 Office Depot, LLC. All rights reserved.
Any other product or company names mentioned herein are the
trademarks of their respective owners.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211206005738/en/
Nicole Maddox, Best Buddies International (Office): 305-374-2233
ext. 343 NicoleMaddox@bestbuddies.org
Rebecca Rakitin, Office Depot (Office): 561-438-1450
Rebecca.Rakitin@officedepot.com
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