Jonas Brothers Kick Off OfficeMax's Annual 'A Day Made Better' Cause Campaign for Teachers

NAPERVILLE, Ill., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- OfficeMax® Incorporated (NYSE: OMX), a leader in office products and services, today commenced its annual cause campaign for teachers called "A Day Made Better" with a surprise visit from the multi-platinum selling pop group, Jonas Brothers, at Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts ("Los Feliz") in Los Angeles, CA. Jonas Brothers surprised the entire teaching staff at Los Feliz with $25,000 worth of school supplies from OfficeMax on behalf of the cause campaign. Rachael Ray also joined the event live via Skype to broadcast the teacher surprise to her audience, which aired today on the Rachael Ray show.

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"We're thrilled to be teaming up with the Jonas Brothers to kick-off our national cause campaign for teachers. Nick, Kevin and Joe brought tremendous energy and spirit to the event today," said Bob Thacker, senior vice president of marketing and advertising for OfficeMax. "Showing their support for teachers, we hope will motivate others to help teachers in their community and reduce the financial burden many teachers face when providing supplies for their own classrooms, and in many cases, their students too."

Twenty-five teachers were surprised by the Jonas Brothers at the nonprofit, parent-initiated elementary school for the arts, which strives to provide a high-quality public education that embraces learning in and through the arts as an integral part of a balanced learning environment to a socio-economically, ethnically and linguistically diverse student population. Jonas Brothers presented each teacher with a new swivel desk chair and giant box of school supplies that included a printer, camera, labeler, and many other classroom essentials like paper, glue, markers, and hand sanitizer.

"Our teaching staff has been working around-the-clock to get our new school facility ready and make this an inspiring and productive year for our students. Our administration, teachers and students were elated and touched by the Jonas Brothers surprise visit, honoring our teachers for their dedication and hard work on behalf of this amazing cause," said Karin Newlin, principal of Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts. "We are very grateful for the generous gift of school supplies from OfficeMax, which will be put to good use starting tomorrow in every classroom at Los Feliz."

Following the Jonas Brothers' school surprise, OfficeMax will host its national "A Day Made Better" event on October 5, 2010 where approximately 30,000 OfficeMax associates will surprise and honor more than 1,000 teachers at Title 1 schools across the nation with $1 million worth of classroom supplies – $1,000 per classroom. Nominated by their principals, teachers receive this honor for their exceptional contributions as an educator, demonstrating passion, innovation and dedication in the classroom.

In 2007, OfficeMax and its nonprofit partner Adopt-A-Classroom founded the "A Day Made Better" cause event in response to the fact that teachers are now spending an average of $1,000 out-of-pocket annually on classroom supplies to offset budget shortfalls; A figure first cited by a National Education Association survey in 2005 and confirmed by an OfficeMax survey of teachers in June 2009. The cause has since funded more than 3,500 classrooms directly with over $3.5 million in supplies and helped secure funding for more than 10,000 classrooms through Adopt-A-Classroom.

"A teacher plays a vital role in a child's life, and it's tragic that teachers have to shoulder the burden of funding their own classroom supplies," said Thacker. "By calling attention to this issue and rewarding teachers for their hard work, we hope to encourage widespread support for teachers and start making 'Every Day Better' for teachers across the country."

To learn more about "A Day Made Better," please visit the cause website at ADayMadeBetter.com or blog at ADayMadeBetterBlog.com. To donate to the cause, you can "Like" OfficeMax on Facebook, which will directly donate $1 per person to Adopt-A-Classroom until October 5 up to a maximum donation of $60,000. You can also adopt a teacher directly at AdoptAClassroom.org or text ADMB to 501501 to donate $5.00 to Adopt-A-Classroom. Standard text message and data rates may apply.

About OfficeMax

OfficeMax Incorporated (NYSE: OMX) is a leader in both business-to-business office products solutions and retail office products.  The OfficeMax mission is simple.  We help our customers do their best work.  The company provides office supplies and paper, in-store print and document services through OfficeMax ImPress®, technology products and solutions, and furniture to businesses and individual consumers.  OfficeMax customers are served by more than 30,000 associates through direct sales, catalogs, e-commerce and approximately 1,000 stores.  To find the nearest OfficeMax, call 1-877-OFFICEMAX.  For more information, visit officemax.com.

SOURCE OfficeMax