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According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, one in five children in the United States live in poverty. Additionally, the National Education Association estimates that children from low-income families are six times as likely to drop out of school than children from higher-income families.
In order to help these underserved children, AppLovin partnered with Sydney Paige to purchase and distribute quality school supplies to homeless and foster kids. Our AppLovin staff gathered to load 350 individual backpacks full of school supplies and notes of encouragement for children who are about to start the new school year. Courtney Brockmeyer, the Founder and CEO of Sydney Paige, was here to tell her story of why she left the safety of her corporate job to launch the organization and the impact she’s seen.
Brockmeyer previously worked for Nestlé where she lead an initiative to bring food and beverage solutions to lower-income communities. “With that, I was in people’s homes, saw their kids, heard their struggles,” she said, speaking with Mercury News. “That’s where this began. I wanted to help.” Sydney Paige, named after Brockmeyer’s two daughters, has been women-owned and operated since its founding in 2013.
Parya Bahrani, Office Manager at AppLovin in San Francisco, was the driving force behind AppLovin’s collaboration with Sydney Paige and helped coordinate the event. “I firmly believe that so many future problems can be solved by helping children get the education they deserve, and one way we can help is by giving children the supplies they need to succeed in school,” said Bahrani.
According to the US Department of Education, “A positive PK-12 education experience has the potential to be a powerful counterweight to the abuse, neglect, separation, impermanence and other barriers these vulnerable students experience.” Additionally, education can help foster children achieve personal fulfillment and economic self-sufficiency.
Photo credit: Sydney Paige
It was a pleasure working with Courtney and Sydney Paige on this event and we look forward to working with them again in the future. If you would like to support Sydney Paige, the organization offers a buy-one-give-one deal where a second backpack filled with school supplies will be donated to a non-profit of your choice when you purchase one. Companies can also reach out to set up employee engagement events to help Sydney Paige fill backpacks with supplies and donate them to students in need.
