To support schools serving low-income and diverse student populations, St. Paul, Minnesota-headquartered 3M is providing backpacks full of school supplies to 17,000 public school students in its hometown, through a partnership with the St. Paul Public School District and the Kids in Need Foundation. More than 700 teachers will distribute the products, which range from Scotch Glue Sticks and Post-it Notes to notebooks and pencils. 3M operates in the promotional products market through its 3M Promotional Markets Dept. (PPAI 113638, S11).

3M plant communities are also teaming up to provide locally needed supplies this year. 3M’s sites in Monrovia, California, recently collected six barrels of requested back-to-school items, working together with partner Foothill Unity Center. This month, the 3M Austin, Texas, site is collecting required polo shirts for a public school.

In 2020, 3Mgives and the 3M Foundation facilitated more than $28 million in 3M product donations, which went to disaster-relief efforts, schools and community nonprofits. Through its Supplies for Schools program, 3M donates products such as office supplies, hand sanitizer, tapes, glues, adhesives, highlighters, masks and sponges. To help make sure supplies reach students and teachers who need them the most, including underrepresented communities, 3M partners with leading nonprofit organizations such as Kids in Need, Teach for America and DonorsChoose.

Through DonorsChoose, public school teachers can create classroom project requests. 3M is providing $500,000 in annual support to DonorsChoose, which has supported 7,794 teacher projects since 2014. 3M has also launched a fresh round of Science at Home online educational resources that can be done at home or in the classroom. Teach for America partnered with 3M to promote awareness of Science at Home resources this year and is dedicated to Title 1 schools serving low-income students. In addition, 3Mgives donates more than $1 million in products each year which are distributed to more than 3,900 FIRST Robotics Competition teams in their Kit of Parts.