Domtar to Donate New Books to Humke Elementary, Plant Trees for Earth Day

For the City Times

Grant provides funds to local Nekoosa, WI school to purchase new books for children from underserved families; Domtar employees and students plant trees on-campus.

NEKOOSA --Domtar Corporation (NYSE: UFS) (TSX: UFS) announced that employee volunteers from the company’s pulp and paper mill in Nekoosa will visit Humke Elementary Schoolon Fridayfrom 1:30-2:30 p.m. to donate and read new books to kindergartners as part of its partnership with First Book, and to plant trees in honor of Earth Week.

A Fortune 500 company, Domtar makes a wide variety of everyday products from sustainable wood fiber, such as copy paper and diapers. Domtar’s Nekoosa mill employs nearly 500 people in the local community.

Domtar employees from the Nekoosa mill will read and donate books to nearly 80 children across five kindergarten classes at Humke Elementary School, then head outside to plant one tree with each class.

“Our employees are grateful for the opportunity to share books and plant trees with the Kindergarteners of Humke Elementary School during Earth Week,” said Domtar Corporate Responsibility Manager, Heather Alverson Stowe. “Our investment in the Nekoosa community reflects two of Domtar’s three pillars of giving: literacy and sustainability. Domtar’s commitment to sustainability takes many forms—from the products we make to the local community service projects our employees support.”

As part of its Powerful Pages campaign, Domtar has partnered with First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides books to children in need, since 2012 to provide more than half a million dollars in grants to schools and programs in towns that are home to Domtar facilities. Domtar’s grants provide funding to educators to purchase books through the First Book Marketplace, a website available exclusively to First Book programs, and then the school’s children are able to bring home the new books.

“We’re proud to have provided hundreds of thousands of brand-new books to children from underserved families across North America, in partnership with First Book,” said Stowe. “Domtar is committed to promoting literacy by putting books in the hands of children in need in the communities in which we operate—it’s a cause that is close to our hearts and core to our business.”

“Access to books is transformational in the lives of our children and the educators who serve them,” said Kyle Zimmer, First Book president and CEO. “Domtar’s work with First Book has opened up a world of opportunities to children who might not otherwise have books at home.”

Domtar is located at301 Point Basse Ave. in Nekoosa.