23,047: The Power of Numbers

Citi Employees Donate Big Numbers to Bush Middle School

As the 2013-2014 school year begins, students across the nation will be adding, subtracting, and counting many different numbers. The numbers, though, that Barbara Bush Middle School students were counting meant more than just a math problem in class. These numbers equaled support from a business in the community.

And what was the special number that the Bush students counted: 23,047. Citi, the leading global bank, with two large campuses near Bush Middle School, ran a two-week school supply drive in August collecting 23,047 items for the students at the campus.

One student at Barbara Bush said, "I loved when Citi came to our school and they revealed the numbers at our pep rally. The comma was the funniest part of the number because no one expected it. It was so exciting seeing that many new supplies being donated to us. It feels good to know that people care about middle school kids."

Citi school supply donations included:
· 458 boxes of tissues
· 494 three-ring binders
· 500 spiral notebooks
· 2,149 composition notebooks
· 5,285 pens
· 7,961 pencils
· 5,881 pocket folders
· 319 miscellaneous items

Matt Warnock, Barbara Bush Principal, said, "The support of local businesses like Citi that schools receive is unquestionably linked to the success of students. Barbara Bush Middle School is educating future employees of Citi and other companies like it. The investment in our students is a critical need. We cannot do this alone. And we value the partnership of Citi and its employees. Kudos to the Citi employees for their generosity."

And for Bush Middle School, the support did not stop with the number 23,047. Citi provided car sunshades to the school faculty. The staff felt covered in care from the Citi employees. Additionally, Citi presented a $5,000 check to members of the C-FB ISD Educational Foundation to further support Barbara Bush Middle School.

Rodney Phelps, Citi Irving Campuses Site President, said "At Citi we know how important it is to give back and help make our communities the best they can be. This year we selected Barbara Bush Middle school – just up the road from our Irving campuses - as our partner school and beneficiary of our annual back to school supply drive. We delivered over 23,000 school supplies to these deserving students to help them in their journey to achieve academic success. We loved their energy and enthusiasm!"

Students at Barbara Bush Middle School have learned that there is great power in numbers. The generous 23,047 item donation along with the monetary gift from Citi and its employees will make an impact on the lives of the students.

View photos from the event here.