Amazon donates school supplies to Clayton County elementary school

When Amazon employee and 2008 Huie Elementary School graduate Tommy Quach learned about the school supply drive at the Amazon delivery station, he wanted to volunteer by giving back to the school that gave so much to him.

On Aug. 30, Amazon employees from the nearby delivery station — along with Amazon Delivery Service Provider Delivery King Logistics — delivered backpacks, books, school supplies, and snacks to Huie Elementary to address the needs of students experiencing homelessness.

This event kicked off the partnership between the neighboring Amazon delivery station and Huie Elementary School.

Amazon employees selected Huie to further foster its commitment to investing in the communities where employees live and work.

“Our team is dedicated to volunteering and helping within the community we serve,” said Amazon Senior Station Manager Enrique Jimenez. “Many of our employees like Tommie who graduated from Huie, work in this community, and most of the supplies were donated by employees who call this community home. It’s very impactful for us to be able to give back. This donation is another example of how Amazon invests in the education of local youth.”

The school supply drive was spearheaded by Henry Zamora, area manager, and Escarleth Parajon, operations manager at the Amazon facility.

Zamora, who oversees employee and community engagement, applied for a grant to buy more school supplies.

Quach, who works as a process assistant, said he volunteered his time because he loves giving back to his community.

“My teachers at Huie really brought me up when I had troubles in school,” said Quach. “They took the time to support me, so today, I wanted to do the same.”

Quach added being at the school brought back a lot of good memories and he just wants to help other students with anything they possibly might need.

Quach is also a student at Atlanta Technical College and aspires to become an engineer at an Amazon robotics fulfillment center.

Huie Elementary School Principal Arlando Dawson said that he looks forward to working with Amazon throughout the year to support students who are experiencing homelessness.

“We have a significant number of homeless students at our school,” said Dawson. “When Amazon learned that we needed assistance with this population, they really bent over backwards and extended a great offer to provide resources for our school.”

Dawson added that Huie Elementary has also experienced an increase in the percentage of Latino students from 35 to 50 percent this year, and he’s excited to partner with Amazon team members like Jimenez, Zamora, and Parajon, whom are of Latino descent.

“Some of our younger Pre-K and kindergarten classrooms are almost 60 to 75 percent Latino population, so we are excited about partnering with Amazon to support our students,” said Dawson. “Today, one of our female students asked one of the team members from Amazon ‘Are you Mexican?’ and she said ‘No, I’m Nicaraguan’. But just being able to see people that look like you — representation matters. Having this type of partnership really impacts our students to see what is possible in their lives at Huie.”

Amazon has agreed to volunteer monthly at Huie Elementary to read to students, participate in events for Hispanic Heritage Month, and provide more school supplies as well as hygiene kits. They will join tens of thousands of Amazon employees who will volunteer alongside their peers for Global Volunteer Month — an initiative that aims to get them more involved in the communities where they live and work September 1 to 30.

“Huie Elementary School and the Clayton County community are profoundly grateful for Amazon’s generosity and dedication to making a meaningful impact on education,” a statement from Clayton County Schools read. “This partnership exemplifies the power of collaboration to make a real difference in the lives of the students.”

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Today’s story comes from our partner, the Clayton News-Daily. The Clayton News-Daily provides daily coverage of community news, events, and sports in Clayton County at news-daily.com.

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