Smurfit Westrock employees in the U.S. supported multiple ways to ensure hundreds of students returned to school with the supplies they need. ... And they did it all while putting more corrugate into the recycling stream as well.  

Stocking Students with Supplies 

At our North American headquarters in Atlanta, employees donated school supplies for Beecher Hills Elementary School, a long-time community partner. The supply drive, organized by the Technology Leadership Development Program, filled 15 large boxes with school and classroom cleaning supplies, including over 1,500 pencils, around 275 notebooks, and over 7,500 sheets of notebook paper.  

This is the third year for the supply drive but the first year it accepted donations through an Amazon Wishlist, which increased giving. The supplies were shared among the more than 200 students enrolled at the school. Over the years, employees, led by our African-American Black + Allies resource group, have presented at career days, donated their time as guest readers in classrooms, and provided thousands of  snack packs to support student success during standardized tests. 

Packing Supplies and Picking Up a Recycling Partner  

Smurfit Westrock also participated in two volunteer events with the Empty Stocking Fund in Atlanta. Employees packed a total of around 800 school supply kits that will go to various local schools that have a high number of students in need. Each kit contains at least 15 core school supply items such as pencils, pens, paper and notebooks. Thanks to generous supporters of the Empty Stocking Fund, supply kits are given to schools at no cost. 

During kit-packing events, the Empty Stocking Fund amasses a large number of corrugated boxes, which Smurfit Westrock volunteers noticed. The organization did not have a recycling partner because of the associated cost, so one of our volunteers contacted our nearby Marietta Recycling Facility to see if we could help. Smurfit Westrock is now the organization’s official recycling partner, handling all the leftover corrugate from packing events at no cost to the Empty Stocking Fund – a win for the organization and the environment.  

Thank you to our Atlanta colleagues for helping students across the region get a strong start to the new school year!