500 Students at Gilpin Manor Elementary School Get New Backpacks Filled with School Supplies Courtesy of Baltimore Buick-GMC Dealers

Baltimore, MD., August 21, 2013 /3BL Media/ - Students at Gilpin Manor Elementary School in Elkton got even more than the annual introduction to their teachers and classrooms today at this year’s Ice Cream Social – they also each received a new backpack filled with essential school supplies.  The backpacks were made possible through Baltimore Buick-GMC’s participation in CBS EcoMedia’s innovative EducationAd program.

EcoMedia’s national nonprofit partner, Kids In Need Foundation, provided the much-needed school supplies for Gilpin Manor students.  The funding for the supplies was included in the Buick-GMC Dealers’ EducationAd advertising on CBS, which allows advertisers to support community projects like the backpacks filled with folders, notebooks, crayons, pens and pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, glue sticks, scissors, rulers and highlighters. 

Baltimore Buick-GMC dealers participated in this afternoon’s Ice Cream Social, personally passing out individual student backpacks filled with school supplies to every student who attended the popular “get to know your teacher and new classroom” event.  Tom Williams of Anchor Buick GMC and President of the Baltimore Buick-GMC hosted the giveaway portion of the event along with Paige Boyle of Boyle Buick-GMC and Dan Rodrigues, Senior Vice President of Sales and Business Development for CBS EcoMedia Inc., Catherine Green, Gilpin Manor Elementary School Principal, Dr. D’Ette W. Devine, Superintendent, Cecil County School District and District representatives were also on hand to celebrate the new school supplies and thank the Buick-GMC dealers for their generosity.

“Gilpin Manor Elementary School is a learning community dedicated to the continued development and growth of all students.   Our community partners truly help to make this vision become a reality, said Catherine Green, Gilpin Manor Elementary School Principal.  “The donations of backpacks and school supplies ensure that our students are ready to begin the school year with everything they need in order to engage in learning activities both at school and at home.   We are incredibly grateful for the investment that our partners have made in our youth with donations, volunteering, mentoring, and the support of various programs.  We are confident that this investment will help our students to be successful for years to come and to be positive contributors to our local community.“

Because classroom supplies are so difficult to come by for schools today, the Baltimore Buick-GMC Dealers are also sponsoring a two-week School Materials Supply Drive at several of their dealership locations.  Starting on the week of August 21 and running through September 9 participating dealers will be collecting basic school supply donations from community members and then delivering them to local schools that need them most.  Baltimore Buick-GMC Dealers are asking for donations of basic supplies including pencils, paper, crayons, glue, glue sticks, markers and pens.

“When we, the Baltimore Buick-GMC dealers, were presented with this idea, we jumped at the chance to offer students the tools they need to get off to get a great start in the new school year,” said Tom Williams of Anchor Buick GMC and President of the Baltimore Buick-GMC. “Education is the most important tool we can provide today’s youth to allow for a bright future.”

“When it comes to the basics of education and learning, it doesn’t get any more fundamental than basic school supplies – pens, paper, rulers, notebooks – but too many of our schools can’t afford to equip their students with even these necessities,” said Paul Polizzotto, President and Founder of CBS EcoMedia. “With Baltimore Buick-GMC Dealers help, through their EducationAd advertising, every student at Gilpin Manor Elementary School is starting the new school year right and ready to learn.  Today’s backpack giveaway event is further evidence of the significant impact that EcoMedia works to create in communities all across the country in partnership with our advertiser funders and our nonprofit partners like Kids In Need Foundation.”

“We commend EcoMedia and the Baltimore Buick GMC Dealers for understanding how important it is for students to have school supplies," said Dave Smith, executive director of the Kids In Need Foundation. "Having the school supplies means these Baltimore students will not have to worry about how they will fully participate in classroom activities or how they will get their homework done.  To eliminate this barrier for the kids and alleviate the burden teachers often assume of providing supplies to students out of their own pockets are the reasons the Kids In Need Foundation exists. But we can't do it without the support of our partners."   

About Baltimore Buick-GMC Local Marketing Association

The Baltimore Buick GMC Local Marketing Association (LMA) is comprised of six dealers that span across the state of Maryland; Anchor Buick GMC (Elkton, MD), Anderson of Hunt Valley Buick GMC (Hunt Valley, MD), Boyle Buick GMC (Abingdon, MD), Heritage Buick (Owings Mills, MD), Wilkins Buick GMC (Glen Burnie, MD), and Win Kelly Buick GMC (Clarksville, MD).  As local representatives of both the Buick and GMC brands, each dealer strives to make a positive impact in their communities as well as the greater Baltimore area. We are committed to serving our community through excellence and dedication and are pleased to promote educational needs in our community and provide much needed resources to young students.

About Buick & GMC

GMC, committed to manufacturing performance vehicles since 1902, and is one of the industry's healthiest brands and we are proud to represent them. Through innovation and engineering excellence, GMC has evolved and now offers fuel-efficient trucks and crossovers, including the Terrain small SUV and Acadia crossover.

Buick, a modern luxury brand, offers vehicles with sculpted designs, luxurious interiors with thoughtful personal technologies, along with responsive-yet-efficient performance.

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 $450 million in school supplies since its founding, directly benefiting 2.4 million students and 100,000 teachers annually, and has awarded $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.

About CBS EcoMedia Inc.

At EcoMedia, we're propelled by the desire to create positive social change; that's been our mission since we founded the company in 2002.  In 2008, after successfully partnering with CBS on a wide range of environmental projects, EcoMedia became the newest addition to the CBS Corporation portfolio, exponentially scaling our reach across television, radio, interactive,publishing and outdoor media. 

Through our patent-pending EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd programs, an innovative twist on traditional advertising, advertisers are able to support much-needed local projects which in turn creates jobs, saves taxpayer money and improves the quality of life in communities nationwide.  In the process, we’re fundamentally altering the advertising landscape, elevating the ordinary, traditional commercial – and media, in general – into a catalyst for tangible, quantifiable social change.  Please visit ecomedia.cbs.com to learn more. 

By participating in EcoMedia’s EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd advertising programs, EcoMedia’s advertisers agree to provide funding for projects we believe will have a beneficial effect upon the environment, health and/or education within local communities.  EcoMedia’s advertising programs are not certification programs nor are the EcoAd, WellnessAd or EducationAd logos seals of approval. EcoMedia does not in any way certify, endorse or make any representations about EcoMedia program advertisers, their products or services.