Wisconsin book printer activates nearly 400 employees to support United Way’s Project Fresh Start

Stevens Point, Wis. – Worzalla, an employee-owned printing company specializing in high-quality custom products and books including children’s books, collected more than 500 pounds of school supplies as part of Project Fresh Start, a United Way of Portage County Volunteer Center program. Project Fresh Start provides free school supplies to students 4th grade through 12th grade in Portage County who qualify for free and reduced lunch through their school district. Items on the school supply wish list include backpacks, pencils, sharpeners, erasers, pens, notebooks, folders, markers, glue sticks, index cards, rulers, composition books, and more.

“With nearly 400 employees at Worzalla, we have many families who are directly connected to the Steven Point area’s local schools,” said Brianne Petruzalek, Director of Human Resources at Worzalla, who organized the school supplies drive. “We are proud of their effort to collect so many school supplies to help local students be able to read and learn in the best environment possible.”

Worzalla employees were incentivized to contribute to the school supplies drive through an internal contest. For each item donated, the employee received an entry into a raffle to win a full day of vacation or one of five $50 gift cards. Additionally, the team with the highest average weight of donations per team member would win a root beer float and ice cream party. The winning team was the Office, Logistics, Quality and Sales team for collecting an average of 2.25 pounds of school supplies per team member. Team member Mary Przybylski won the raffle for a full day of vacation.

In addition to employee contributions, Worzalla purchased 5,000 pencils and 30 high-quality backpacks to donate to the school supplies drive.

“Throughout Worzalla’s 125 years, the company has been incredibly committed to the central Wisconsin community,” said Jim Fetherston, President and CEO of Worzalla. “Thanks to all of our employees who took part in this impressive effort to help our local schools and students thrive.”

Worzalla has a history of supporting the area’s local schools. For example, just earlier this year, Worzalla donated 250 books to area elementary schools in observance of World Book Day.

Worzalla’s several hundred employees manufacture millions of children’s books, lifestyle books, and cookbooks that are sold in bookstores and through online retailers across the country. For more information, visit worzalla.com or follow Worzalla on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.