Henry Schein’s 24th Annual ‘Back to School’ Program Helps Children in Need Return to the Classroom

By: Henry Schein, Inc. via Business Wire

September 22, 2021 at 08:05 AM EDT

Team Schein Provides Backpacks, School Supplies, and More to Support Back-to-School Needs

Henry Schein, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC) is helping children around the world return to the classroom through its 24^th annual “Back to School” program. This year, Team Schein Members at 22 locations in the U.S., Canada, Spain, and Ireland are donating backpacks filled with school supplies to almost 4,500 children.

Since the program’s inception in 1998, the Company has helped more than 60,000 children start a new school year with confidence. At each Henry Schein location, teams work with local social service agencies to pre-identify participating children and their families. The “Back to School” program is a flagship initiative of Henry Schein Cares, the Company’s global corporate social responsibility program.

“Our ‘Back to School’ program has evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic to safely meet the needs of our neighbors, and the spirit of our Team Schein Members is stronger than ever,” said Gerry Benjamin, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of Henry Schein. “We are so pleased to help children in need return to the classroom with confidence and ready to meet the challenges of a new school year.”

To see Team Schein in action and past examples of the program’s benefit to children and their families, please watch this video celebrating 24 years of the “Back to School” program.

“Thanks to initiatives such as Henry Schein’s Back to School program, the children of the socio-educational project that we have developed in Puente Vallecas, Madrid, can have brand new backpacks, school supplies, and clothes with which to face the return to school more easily,” said Beatriz Lopez, Social Worker, ICEAS Asociación (The Association for Cooperation and Social Support for School Integration). “Initiatives of this nature favor equal opportunities for boys and girls since it is possible that they can wear new clothes and bring new material to school just like the rest of their classmates.”

“We’re so very grateful to Henry Schein for all their years of service to us and to our families and children,” said Mark Wenzel, Assistant Director of the Long Island, N.Y.-based YES Community Counseling Center. “There’s nothing more important than a young person starting a school year feeling good about themselves and having the tools that they need. Henry Schein has been providing those tools to our children, so we’re very grateful and we just want to say, ‘thank you.’”

About Henry Schein Cares

Henry Schein Cares stands on five pillars: empowering team Schein to reach their potential, advancing health equity and expanding access to care for underserved communities, accelerating environmental sustainability, strengthening and diversifying our supply chain, and maintaining strong ethical governance. Health care activities supported by Henry Schein Cares focus on four main areas: (1) wellness, treatment, prevention, and education; (2) capacity building; (3) emergency preparedness and disaster response; and (4) health system strengthening.

Rooted in a deep commitment to social responsibility and the philosophy of enlightened self-interest championed by Benjamin Franklin, the purpose-driven vision of Henry Schein Cares is “doing well by doing good.” Our commitment to sustained, long-term economic success while also creating shared value for society is achieved through the work of Henry Schein Cares and our stakeholder model that engages all five constituents of our Mosaic of Success. To learn more about how we are making a difference, please visit: www.henryschein.com/corporatecitizenship.

About Henry Schein, Inc.

Henry Schein, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC) is a solutions company for health care professionals powered by a network of people and technology. With approximately 21,000 Team Schein Members worldwide, the Company's network of trusted advisors provides more than 1 million customers globally with more than 300 valued solutions that help improve operational success and clinical outcomes. Our Business, Clinical, Technology, and Supply Chain solutions help office-based dental and medical practitioners work more efficiently so they can provide quality care more effectively. These solutions also support dental and medical laboratories, government and institutional health care clinics, as well as other alternate care sites.

Henry Schein operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, with a selection of more than 120,000 branded products and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as more than 180,000 additional products available as special-order items.

A FORTUNE 500 Company and a member of the S&P 500® index, Henry Schein is headquartered in Melville, N.Y., and has operations or affiliates in 32 countries and territories. The Company's sales reached $10.1 billion in 2020, and have grown at a compound annual rate of approximately 12 percent since Henry Schein became a public company in 1995.

For more information, visit Henry Schein at www.henryschein.com, Facebook.com/HenrySchein, Instagram.com/HenrySchein, and Twitter.com/HenrySchein.