13 Things About The Crayon Initiative You May Not Have Known

With such a simple and impactful concept, you may think you know all there is to know about The Crayon Initiative. Here are 13 things that you might not have heard yet.

1. We save over half a million pounds of crayon from landfills.

Every year, over 60,000 crayons go to landfills. We're helping redirect them to children in need.

2. We provide boxes to make collecting easy.

There's no need to get your own containers. We'll provide up to 20 collection boxes for your crayon drive.

3. The only thing collectors pay is shipping costs.

Instead of throwing out your crayons, throw them into the box. Collectors only need to pay the cost of shipping.

4. We handle the sorting and processing.

There's no need to sort by color or take off the wrappers. We do all of that on your behalf (though you can sort them if you'd like a project)!

5. We sterilize every crayon to ensure child safety.

No crayon ends up in a child's hand before it is processed and sterilized. We use donated crayons as raw materials to re-manufacture our own 8-packs.

6. Just $25 can help us process over 1,600 crayons.

If you can't donate crayons, you can make a monetary donation. Just $25 will help us process and distribute up to 1,600 crayons. That is enough to give 8-packs to 200 children.

7. We send donations to hospitals across the nation.

Any hospital can request donations from us as long as they're part of the Children's Hospital Association (CHA). All they need to do is fill out a form, which means you can help your local children's hospital get involved!

8. A single box of donations can make 125 children smile.

When you collect a single large box of donations, weighing around 25 pounds, that's enough to produce 8-packs for 125 children.

9. Larger collection efforts can make over 1,000 children smile.

If you manage to collect around 10 boxes of crayons (or 200 pounds), we can turn those into crayon packs for over 1,000 children.

10. Every single crayon goes to a child in need.

We never sell our crayons as part of fundraising efforts. That means every single crayon you collect is definitely going to end up in a needy child's hands.

11. Donations are always tax deductible.

Monetary donations are always tax deductible and, if you're collecting, you should talk to your accountant about the tax benefits of paying for shipping on your donations and the collections themselves.

12. Businesses can make a major impact.

Family restaurants, in particular, which use crayons for young guests can have a huge impact on The Crayon Initiative's mission. However, any business can become a corporate sponsor by running a crayon drive or making monetary donations.

13. Individuals can make a difference, too.

Individuals can do their part through monetary donations, by asking local businesses to run a crayon donation drive, or telling family restaurants about the movement.