Retailer to Collect Crayons in Stores from June 28 – August 2

DANVILLE, Calif. – June 8, 2017 – It’s that time of year again—school’s almost out and teachers and students will be packing away their supplies and getting ready for summer. A new partnership between The Crayon Initiative and A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts offers an opportunity for teachers, students and parents to reduce environmental waste while helping patients in children’s hospitals by contributing used or unwanted crayons to be recycled and donated. The partnership kicks off with a Crayon Collection drive at all 135 A.C. Moore store locations from June 28 – August 2, 2017.

To participate, bring unwanted and used crayons to any A.C. Moore arts and crafts retail location and deposit them in designated collection receptacles. The donated crayons will be melted down and recycled into fresh new packs by The Crayon Initiative and then distributed to art programs at children’s hospitals across the U.S. The program helps to alleviate young patients’ anxiety during their hospitalization by providing a creative outlet for self-expression. One pound of used crayons creates five packs of new crayons ready for use. The A.C. Moore Foundation will also donate $1 to The Crayon Initiative for every pound of crayons collected, up to $40,000.

“We’re delighted to expand our partnership with The Crayon Initiative! Having opportunities to create can reduce stress, ease anxiety and prevent boredom during a young person’s hospital stay. Through our partnership with The Crayon Initiative, we hope to make these children’s lives just a bit brighter and more colorful,” says Pepe Piperno, owner and CEO of A.C. Moore. “We’re asking our customers to help us recycle unwanted crayons this summer to reach our goal of creating 50,000 new packs of crayons.”

In May, A.C. Moore conducted a three-day, in-store dollar donation campaign to benefit The Crayon Initiative. The effort raised $19,051 to fund remanufacturing, packaging and shipping of thousands of packs of crayons to children’s hospitals.

“With the support of dedicated partners like A.C. Moore, we’ve experienced phenomenal growth,” says Bryan Ware, founder and executive director of The Crayon Initiative. “We’re grateful to A.C. Moore, whose partnership will enable us to spread the movement and reach tens of thousands of hospitalized children with remanufactured crayons while delivering joy to children in need.”

For more information about the Crayon Collection at A.C. Moore stores, visit http://www.acmoore.com/.

About The Crayon Initiative

Founded in 2014, The Crayon Initiative is a 501(c)3 non-profit that recycles unwanted crayons into unlimited possibilities. The organization’s mission is to preserve the environment and enrich the lives of hospitalized children through art and imagination. The Crayon Initiative has collected 9.5 million crayons reducing environmental waste and donated more than 20,000 new packs of crayons to pediatric patients in 38 hospitals in 17 different states. For more information, visit www.thecrayoninitiative.org.

About A.C. Moore

Create more. Share more. Save more.™ A.C. Moore is a specialty retailer offering a vast selection of arts, crafts and floral merchandise to a broad demographic of customers. The first A.C. Moore store opened in Moorestown, New Jersey in 1985, and has expanded to more than 135 stores. Stores are located in the Eastern United States from Maine to Florida. A.C. Moore is devoted to being the first choice for product selection, value and service that inspires and fulfills unlimited creative possibilities. The assortment, convenience, service and pricing differentiate them from their competitors. The assortment of merchandise consists of more than 60,000 stock keeping units, or SKUs, with approximately 40,000 SKUs offered at each store at any one time. They also offer custom framing in the majority of their stores. In-store events and programs for children and adults provide hands-on arts and crafts experience and encourage the creativity of customers. For more information visit http://www.acmoore.com/about.