Since 1995, Essendant has partnered with World Vision to provide a wide variety of needed items, including everything from office and school supplies to cleaning products, medical supplies, and hand tools.

Product donations from Essendant impact just about every focus area of World Vision’s community development programs, such as education, healthcare, disaster relief, and economic development.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit close to home for the employees of Lagasse, one of the Essendant companies headquartered in New Orleans. Through its relationship with World Vision, the Essendant family of companies and charitable trust took action to support relief efforts in the region.

In the years after Katrina, they have supported nearly every disaster relief response effort with product donations, volunteerism, fundraising, and grants.

Essendant has a strong culture of stewardship, with a goal of being “a purpose-driven company that strives for more than just business success.” Whether related to a specific issue, such as disaster response, or to the general well-being of others, the company encourages its associates to take action and make a positive impact on the communities where they work and live.

Each year, Essendant sponsors representatives from the company to visit World Vision’s work around the world. Through this initiative, their employees from across the United States have witnessed the need and impact of their company’s outreach in Nicaragua, Zambia, and Rwanda — a once-in-a-lifetime experience that is helping shape their corporate culture from the inside out.