MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release
— Wellington, Monday 24 February 2014.
Warehouse Stationery helps families in need with their back-to-school costs
For the fifth year running, Warehouse Stationery has partnered with The Salvation Army to help families in need meet
some of the costs associated with their children’s return to school.
This year’s partnership raised more than twice the amount donated in the previous year thanks to the enthusiastic
support of Warehouse Stationery staff and generous response from customers.
Running throughout December and January, customers at the company’s 62 stores raised more than $43,000 by adding a
dollar to their purchase in response to Warehouse Stationery’s Back to School Appeal. The funds raised are converted
into stationery gift cards that Salvation Army centres distribute to families struggling to pay for school supplies.
The Salvation Army Secretary for Social Services says the period after Christmas is particularly challenging for clients
with school-age children. “For families on a subsistence income, it is very difficult to fund the additional costs of
school fees, uniforms and stationery so soon after Christmas,” Major Waugh says.
“Many of our clients face the expensive back-to-school period with trepidation. The Salvation Army very much appreciates
the significant support from Warehouse Stationery and their customers in providing school stationery vouchers that will
help around 1000 children this year.”
Warehouse Stationery Chief Executive Officer Pejman Okhovat says the appeal is one of a number of community programmes
Warehouse Stationery supports to help families and young people in need. “We are delighted by the success of this latest
campaign which confirms the generosity of New Zealanders to help others less fortunate than themselves,” Mr Okhovat
says.
Issued on the Authority of Commissioner Robert Donaldson (Territorial Commander)
The Salvation Army, New Zealand Fiji & Tonga Territory
ENDS