Focus America A NJ Non-Profit Corporation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Focus America Launches Project Pencils 2004, Donation Drive to Provide School Supplies for Underserved Communities Nationwide
June 21, 2004--Morristown NJ: Focus America, a NJ Non-Profit Corporation, announced the launch of Project Pencils 2004, a volunteer-run initiative to collect school supplies such as backpacks, pens and pencils, dictionaries, notebooks, erasers, and calculators for distribution in August to underserved and poor communities throughout the country.
Several corporations such as First Morris Bank, Sankyo Pharma, Cendant, and America Safety Razor Corporation are participating in the collection drive as well as individual volunteers throughout the country. Supplies are collected and either picked up by Focus America volunteers or shipped directly to underserved communities by the nationwide collection points.
The program was started last year by a Montclair high school senior, Leanne Polachek, who was working for her Girl Scouts of America Gold Award. Between her efforts and the efforts of several community individuals, over 300 backpacks filled with school supplies were distributed in Morris County, NJ as well as shipped out to Kankakee County, IL. This year, the goal is to provide over 1000 children with school supplies.
Focus America provides high school and college students with business experience through the management of social service and charity projects that address the needs of poverty-stricken and destitute communities around the country. Their focus is on addressing basic needs (shelter, food, and clothing) then introducing educational programs to help the communities achieve self-sufficiency. Their ultimate goal is to help eliminate poverty in these underdeveloped communities.
The scheduled date of distribution in Morristown is August 21st at the Market Street Mission in conjunction with Wind of the Spirit. For more information on becoming a volunteer for this project, contact Shelly Zimmerman at 862-812-0548 or szimmerman@focusamerica.org.
ABOUT FOCUS AMERICA: Founded in October 2002, Focus America is a 501c3 non-profit volunteer-run corporation that develops high school and college-aged volunteers (as well as adult volunteers) with hands-on service learning and project management skills through the creation, implementation, and management of individual community service projects. Volunteers work specifically with destitute and underserved communities, focusing on addressing basic needs (shelter, food, and clothing) then introducing mentor programs to help improve the self-esteem of the hardest hit members of these communities: the children. Their ultimate goal is to help eliminate poverty in these underdeveloped communities while developing the business skills of the college-aged volunteers who create, implement, and manage the projects. For more information, visit http://www.focusamerica.org.

CONTACT:
Anne Marie Jarka-Hajjar, VP of Public Relations
PO Box 267
Convent Station, NJ 07961
ajarka@focusamerica.org

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