Elmer's® Presents Award to Young Leaders Helping Students in Need Succeed

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Elmer's^® Products, Inc. believes that children should have the school supplies they need to be successful in the classroom. The company, in partnership with the Kids In Need Foundation (KINF), created the Elmer Award to honor young students who share this belief and have initiated programs to support their peers. Thirteen-year-old Maria Keller of Hopkins, Minn., and eight-year-old Pete Benson of Stockbridge, Ga., received Elmer Awards at the 15^th annual KINF Gala held in Minneapolis on September 25.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130402/MM86448-c)

Keller is the young visionary behind the nonprofit literacy organization, Read Indeed. She began collecting and sharing books at age eight and has since collected and distributed nearly one million books to thousands of children in multiple countries through nonprofits, schools and organizations who work with children.

Benson initiated his Pencils from Pete project after discovering that many children lacked common classroom supplies. His original goal of collecting 20,000 pencils to send to children in Africa has quickly grown into a project that serves children around the world. To date, Benson has collected and distributed more than 47,000 pencils.

"We are proud to honor Maria and Pete for looking beyond their own classrooms and introducing programs that positively affect kids their age all across the world," said Terri Brown, Elmer's senior manager, corporate communications. "Along with the Kids In Need Foundation, we thank them for the differences they are making through their Read Indeed and Pencils from Pete programs as they truly exemplify the values of the Elmer Award."

Elmer's and the KINF created the Elmer Award in 2012 to honor young leaders who support and advance their collective mission. As part of the Elmer's and KINF partnership, Elmer's also provides Teacher Tool Kit grants, ranging from $100 to $500, to teachers who want to conduct classroom projects. This year, 305 grants were provided to teachers nationwide. Additionally, Elmer's donates products to KINF's national network of free stores for teachers, which offers educators from low-income schools free school supplies for their students and classrooms.

For more information, visit www.elmers.com/about/kinf.

About Elmer's^® Products, Inc.
Elmer's^® Products, Inc., headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, has been a trusted brand and industry leader for more than 65 years. Elmer's produces a variety of well-known adhesives, arts and crafts, educational and office products for use at home, school or business. Elmer's branded products are developed to provide project solutions and to inspire people to create, build and learn for life. Elmer's also markets the number one instant adhesive in the U.S., Instant Krazy Glue^®, and X-ACTO^®, a leader in innovative cutting blades, knives and office supply products. For more information, visit www.elmers.com.  Follow Elmer's at http://facebook.com/elmers and http://twitter.com/elmers and http://pinterest.com/elmersproducts.      

About the Kids In Need Foundation 
The Kids In Need Foundation is a national 501(c)(3) charitable organization with offices in Dayton, Ohio, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1995, the Foundation's mission is to ensure that every child is prepared to learn and succeed by providing free school supplies nationally to students most in need. The Kids In Need National Network of Resource Centers includes 29 facilities where teachers from low-income schools go to obtain free school supplies for their students. In addition, two Kids In Need Teacher Grant programs provide K-12 educators with funding to provide innovative learning experiences for students. The Kids In Need Foundation has distributed more than $450 million in school supplies since its founding, directly benefiting 2.4 million students and 100,000 teachers annually, and has awarded more than $1.4 million in grants to teachers. Kids In Need has received Charity Navigator's highest four-star rating for four years, indicating that it operates in a fiscally responsible way and outperforms most other charities in America and has earned the GuideStar Exchange Seal, demonstrating its commitment to transparency.  For more information, visit www.kinf.org.  Join Kids In Need Foundation on Twitter at twitter.com/kidsinneed and Facebook at facebook.com/kidsinneed.

SOURCE Elmer's(R) Products, Inc.