On January 19, volunteers with CSX delivered more than 5,000 bags stuffed with school supplies to students at three middle schools participating in United Way of Northeast Florida’s Achievers For Life mentoring initiative. The effort was the second delivery of its kind that CSX has made to the program after delivering similar bags and supplies to the first group of three schools in December. The donations were distributed to students at Matthew Gilbert Middle School, Northwestern Middle School and J.E.B. Stuart Middle School.

“One of our main focuses at CSX is neighborhood safety,” said Tori Kaplan, CSX’s director of corporate citizenship and events. “We believe that our neighborhoods will be safer when our school children are mentored and have the proper supplies to learn and stay on track for graduation.”

CSX partners with the United Way of Northeast Florida to volunteer in Achievers For Life, a targeted program utilizing mentoring, parent engagement and school-based resources for students at-risk of dropping out. To address the need for mentors in our community, CSX hosted five leadership events for employees. Each one highlighted an Achievers For Life school. Participants learned about the need for mentors and how mentoring can improve a child’s outlook for a lifetime.

CSX recruited 65 new mentors who are currently being trained and have begun mentoring students. At the end of each leadership event, CSX employees assembled bags with school supplies for every student attending the event’s target school. The bags were filled with a notebook, ruler, highlighters, pens, pencils, erasers and much more. Employees also assembled and donated 20 trunks with teacher supplies and three bags of physical education equipment to each target school.

“Mentoring provides a student with extra help on schoolwork but most importantly, it gives students a positive role model,” said Alonza Anderson, a United Way Young Professional volunteer and mentor with Achievers For Life. “I believe when students have a good example, they will take more pride in their work and in turn, will stay in school and graduate.”

Connie Hodges, United Way of Northeast Florida’s President and CEO said, “We are so thankful to have a community partner in CSX. They recognize the need for mentors and school supplies in our schools and have done an excellent job addressing this need with its employees.”

For more information, call 904-390-3200 or visit www.LiveUnitedNortheastFlorida.org.