Pitney Bowes Celebrates 20-Year Partnership with Reading Is Fundamental with 20 Events in 20 Cities

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI), a global shipping and mailing company that provides technology, logistics, and financial services, is proud to announce a series of hands-on volunteer activities in celebration of the 20th anniversary of its partnership with Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), the nation’s leading children’s literacy nonprofit.

“We are engaging twenty Pitney Bowes sites across the country through a RIF Literacy Kit Activation initiative to inspire the joy of reading for children across many communities,” said Kathleen Ryan Mufson, Vice President Global Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy and President of the Pitney Bowes Foundation. “The desire to give back by supporting our communities is central to our culture. With more than 100 years of philanthropy and volunteerism, we embrace making a positive, meaningful difference where we work and live.”

The 20th anniversary celebrations kicked off in Shelton, CT on April 17th as part of Global Volunteer Month and will continue throughout 2024 with literacy kitting events and distributions taking place throughout the summer and back-to-school season. Pitney Bowes volunteers are packing literacy kits filled with tote bags, books, bookmarks with personalized messages of reading encouragement, activity sheets and more to distribute to children who often do not have access to books and reading resources. RIF and Pitney Bowes will reach 1,800 elementary students with these new books and literacy resources, inspiring a joy of reading to support putting children on a path to reading proficiency.

For two decades, Pitney Bowes and the Pitney Bowes Foundation have contributed more than $1.3M to RIF to provide high-quality, age-appropriate books for children and reading content and resources for educators and families. Throughout numerous programmatic activations, nearly 80,000 books have been selected by children to add to their home libraries, building a foundation for lifelong learning and opportunity. Pitney Bowes has supported educators and families through RIF Care to Read teacher trainings, family literacy nights across the country, employee volunteer toolkits, and immediate relief support during the COVID-19 pandemic. The partnership is currently implementing RIF’s flagship program, Books for Ownership this school year in Las Vegas, NV and Austin, TX directly supporting 1,700 elementary students with access to books and literacy resources.

Throughout the year, Pitney Bowes volunteers contribute their time and talents to help those in need. Supporting a wide range of initiatives – from mentoring and youth leadership development to early childhood and literacy education, STEM enrichment and food security.

To learn more about Pitney Bowes community impact visit: https://www.pitneybowes.com/us/our-company/esg/our-community.html

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) is a global shipping and mailing company that provides technology, logistics, and financial services to more than 90 percent of the Fortune 500. Small business, retail, enterprise, and government clients around the world rely on Pitney Bowes to reduce the complexity of sending mail and parcels. For the latest news, corporate announcements and financial results visit https://www.pitneybowes.com/us/newsroom.html. For additional information visit Pitney Bowes at www.pitneybowes.com.

About Reading Is Fundamental

Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is committed to creating a nation of lifelong readers by inspiring the joy of reading among all children, putting them on the path to becoming skilled readers. We provide free, high-quality content to engage children, educators, families, and literacy advocates in the solution to the U.S. literacy crisis—so that every child has the fundamentals for success. As the nation’s leading children’s literacy nonprofit, RIF has provided nearly 430 million books and reading resources to nearly 190 million children since 1966, impacting generations of children. Explore our results and learn more about partnering with us at www.RIF.org.