Ingram Micro Partners With Operation Jump Start to Give Back to Long Beach Schools

LONG BEACH, CA–(Marketwired – Feb 20, 2014) – Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE: IM), the world’s largest wholesale technology distributor and a global leader in supply-chain and mobile device lifecycle services, partnered with local nonprofit organization Operation Jump Start (OJS) for a charity event earlier this month to benefit Long Beach-area schools as part of the company’s North American Executive Kickoff and Sales Meeting. The charity event took place at the Long Beach Convention Center.

Students from OJS, which mentors underserved Long Beach youth and helps them to graduate and go onto higher education, joined Ingram Micro executives and sales associates for the Tuesday event. More than 550 Ingram Micro associates and executives from across the country worked alongside the students to assemble and decorate classroom furniture, including 60 rocking chairs, 30 benches, and 30 bookcases, all of which were donated to Long Beach-area schools. In addition, each Ingram Micro associate was encouraged to continue support the Long Beach school system by donating a book from a wish list of titles selected by the schools.

The time spent alongside the Ingram Micro team allowed the OJS students to learn more about career and college options, and each OJS student received a free backpack and a tote bag filled with school supplies from Ingram Micro. Other prizes for the OJS students, including HP Chromebooks and an iPod Shuffle, were raffled off to the OJS students, and Ingram Micro surprised OJS with a check for $1,000 at the event.

“Ingram Micro is a proud supporter of the local communities we serve, and we were very happy to work with Operation Jump Start to provide these essential items to Long Beach schools,” said Paul Bay, president, Ingram Micro North America. “We’re also pleased to be able to give back to the Operation Jump Start students, who work hard to reach their full potential. We understand that our future success as a business is tied to the education of young students such as these, and we’re happy to invest our time and resources in their success.”

The partnership behind the charity event was coordinated by Agency Ingram Micro, led by Jennifer Anaya, vice president of marketing, Ingram Micro North America, who is a member of the Operation Jump Start board of directors.

“Through my work with Operation Jump Start, I became familiar with the needs of the often-underserved Long Beach School system. I’m very proud that Ingram Micro was able to help give back and address some of those needs,” says Anaya. “In my involvement on the board of this organization, I’ve been blessed to watch many our mentored students graduate and tackle the challenge of college with great success, and I’m so glad we had the opportunity to work together so I could share some of that pride with my colleagues at Ingram Micro.”

“This event is a wonderful demonstration of what good corporate citizenship is all about,” said Wendy Santana, executive director of Operation Jump Start. “We are thrilled to have the chance to partner with Ingram Micro on behalf of Long Beach students.”

This event was made possible in part by the generous support of Ingram Micro’s manufacturer sponsors Dell, Epson, and Peerless A/V.

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About Ingram Micro Inc.
Ingram Micro is the world’s largest wholesale technology distributor and a global leader in IT supply-chain and mobile device lifecycle services. As a vital link in the technology value chain, Ingram Micro creates sales and profitability opportunities for vendors and resellers through unique marketing programs, outsourced logistics and mobile solutions, technical support, financial services and product aggregation and distribution. The company is the only global broad-based IT distributor, serving approximately 170 countries on six continents with the world’s most comprehensive portfolio of IT products and services. Visit IngramMicro.com.

About Operation Jump Start
Operation Jump Start is a Long Beach community-based organization dedicated to equipping Long Beach youth in underserved communities with the skills and vision necessary to graduate from high school and realize their potential through a college education. This is achieved by providing each child with a dedicated volunteer mentor who promotes academic persistence and encourages post-secondary education. It assists disadvantaged students beginning in seventh grade and continuing through high school graduation.

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