December 02, 2008 06:22 PM Eastern Time 

Staples and Chicago Bear Adewale Ogunleye Present $25,000 Makeover Prize to Local Park

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Staples, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS), the world's largest office products company, and Chicago Bears player Adewale Ogunleye today announced that Renwick Community Park in Plainfield, Ill. is the grand-prize winner of the Staples Dream Park Challenge, a Chicagoland park improvement initiative. Ogunleye, Chicago Bears front office officials, and Staples presented a check for $25,000 to Renwick Community Park representatives at a ceremony today at Soldier Field. Park officials say the funds will be used for overall beautification including planting of trees and the building of structures to create needed shade, among other initiatives. This is the second time Staples and the Bears have teamed up for Dream Park Challenge, which has awarded close to $100,000 in park improvements to 29 Chicagoland parks in two years.

“This year’s Dream Park Challenge was a hard-fought contest from start-to-finish, with the lead swinging back and forth between the two front-running parks,” said the Bears’ Ogunleye. “I am truly impressed by the level of effort and participation displayed by all of the parks in this contest, but the Plainfield community clearly demonstrated the most passion and teamwork to win.”

From Sept. 16 to Nov. 17, Chicagoland residents were invited to vote online at www.StaplesDreamPark.com for one of 15 local parks to receive $25,000 in improvement money. Renwick finished first in the contest with 251,544 of out of the nearly 620,000 total votes cast. Second-place Century Park in Bolingbrook, Ill. will receive $10,000, and third-place Arrowhead Park in Naperville, Ill. will get $5,000 for park improvements. The remaining 12 parks will each receive $500.

“We are thrilled to receive this $25,000 from Staples and the Chicago Bears,” said Mayor James Waldorf. “These funds will have a tremendous impact in helping to make Renwick Community Park a better place for the families and children of the Plainfield community and surrounding communities to enjoy.”

Behind an orchestrated marketing and communication plan implemented by the Plainfield Park District, Plainfield residents and other park supporters went to great lengths to help propel Renwick to first place. As a result, Renwick Community Park set an all-time vote record for the Dream Park Challenge in Chicago, scoring nearly double the amount of votes earned by last year’s winner LaFollette Park in Chicago. LaFollette is using its $25,000 prize to buy lockers, a scoreboard and bleachers to benefit youth sports programs.

“Staples is committed to making a positive difference in the Chicagoland,” said Bob Wolfe, regional vice president of Staples. "Through the Staples Dream Park Challenge, we’re proudly supporting our local parks, which are a home-away-from-home for many youth in our communities.”

Staples continues to demonstrate its commitment to Chicagoland by investing in grassroots local community organizations. Since it first opened its doors in Chicagoland, Staples has donated close to $600,000 to educational non-profit organizations in the area. Each Chicagoland store location has adopted a local non-profit partner by contributing funds or providing much-needed support, such as office product donations.

About Staples

Staples, the world’s largest office products company, is committed to making it easy for customers to buy a wide range of office products, including supplies, technology, furniture, and business services. With $27 billion in sales, Staples serves businesses of all sizes and consumers in 27 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. In July 2008, Staples acquired Corporate Express, one of the world’s leading suppliers of office products to businesses and institutions. Staples invented the office superstore concept in 1986 and is headquartered outside Boston. More information about Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS) is available at www.staples.com.