'Staples Dream Park Challenge with the Bears' Returns to Give Chicagoland Parks a Chance to Win $25,000

Staples, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS) today announced it has teamed up again with the Chicago Bears to launch the second Staples Dream Park Challenge, an initiative that makes it easy for Chicagoland residents to win improvement money for their local parks. Starting today, 15 parks will compete for the chance to win the grand prize of $25,000 to be used for park improvements and a winner’s celebration featuring Bears star Adewale Ogunleye at Soldier Field.

From now through Nov. 17, Chicagoland residents can vote once per day for their local park at www.StaplesDreamPark.com/Bears, and pick up a free "power card” at any Chicagoland Staples store to have their online vote count 10 extra times. Voters will automatically be entered to win a chance to meet Ogunleye in person at the Staples Dream Park Challenge winner’s celebration later this year. Additional prizes include $10,000 and $5,000 in park improvements for the first- and second-place runner-ups, respectively. The remaining 12 parks will receive $500 each for their participation.

"Community parks play a central role in building strong communities and helping our local youth to develop confidence and leadership skills through sports,” said Ogunleye. "Through this challenge, we are giving communities the opportunity to win much-needed funds to revitalize their parks and create safe, fun places for families and children to gather.”

This year, the Staples Dream Park Challenge is open to 15 parks – one more than last year – and for the first time, includes parks located in the Chicago suburbs. The participating parks were selected based on their overall need, input from city and county park employees and proximity to Staples operating areas.

Last year, Chicago residents cast more than 319,000 votes in the first Staples Dream Park Challenge with the Bears. Receiving more than one-third of the votes, LaFollette Park won the $25,000 grand prize, which is being used to purchase lockers, a scoreboard and bleachers to benefit local youth sports programs. The runner-up parks – Dunham Park in Dunning and Ada Park in Morgan Park – received $10,000 and $5,000 respectively for park improvements.

"Last year’s Challenge awarded more than $50,000 to improving Chicagoland parks and helping communities throughout the city,” said Bob Wolfe, Staples regional vice president. "Staples is excited to team up with the Bears again to make a positive difference in the lives of Chicago residents.”

The winning park will be announced in November. More details about the park celebration ceremony hosted by Adewale Ogunleye and Staples will be provided at a later date. Log on to www.StaplesDreamPark.com/Bears for full details or www.staples.com for store locations.

Staples continues to demonstrate its commitment to Chicagoland by investing in grassroots local community organizations. Since it first opened its doors in Chicagoland, Staples has donated close to $600,000 to educational non-profit organizations in the area. Each Chicagoland store location has adopted a local non-profit partner by contributing funds or providing much-needed support, such as office product donations.

About Staples

Staples, the world’s largest office products company, is committed to making it easy for customers to buy a wide range of office products, including supplies, technology, furniture, and business services. With $27 billion in sales, Staples serves businesses of all sizes and consumers in 27 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. In July 2008, Staples acquired Corporate Express, one of the world’s leading suppliers of office products to businesses and institutions. Staples invented the office superstore concept in 1986 and is headquartered outside Boston. More information about Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS) is available at www.staples.com.