The Oakland Raiders teamed up with Office Depot to donate 500 sackpacks to Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland. WR Jacoby Ford visited the Office Depot in Emeryville to help present the Children's Hospital with the sackpacks donated through the Office Depot Foundation and then sign autographs for Raiders fans.
"Today is all about the Children's Hospital," said Beth Sanzone, Senior Project Manager at Office Depot. "I'm so in awe of what they do with the kids and the fact that those kids, they are there, literally there, from the time they start treatment until the time they leave. I don't think people realize that can be a long time so the kids are going to school there. I'm so excited that we are able to give them some sackpacks with school supplies in them for those kids. They're kids that probably can't afford that and probably can't even afford the treatment, but because of donations and these opportunities that we have to give back to the community, those kids get the type of stuff they need in order to get better."
Ford was excited to be part of an event that involved giving back to kids. "To be able to come back and touch a younger person's life, it's something that I can't even describe," said Ford. "It's great to give back for education purposes, because without education, I don't think anybody could be successful in the world. It definitely starts with giving back and I definitely think it's going to touch them in a way we really wouldn't know."
Marsha Luster, Manager of Social Services at Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland, explained how important and meaningful the Raiders and Office Depot's donation is to the patients. "This is a wonderful event for Children's Hospital," said Luster. "One of the things that we were just recently talking about was the struggle that many of our families have with pulling together resources that they need and the supplies they need for children who are going back to school or kids that are just starting school. So the sackpacks will be huge for our families. Seven out of 10 children that we serve at Children's are from low-income families so this is a resource that many of our families would never be able to afford. Being able to offer this to our families, 500 sackpacks, will go a long way to serve the children that are at our hospital."
