Nick Cannon Gives 20,000 Backpacks to South Florida Kids

"America's Got Talent" host holding huge backpack giveaways in Fort Lauderdale and Miami

"America's Got Talent" host Nick Cannon teamed up with Office Depot to to donate 20,000 backpacks to children in South Florida Thursday.

At 10 a.m., the actor, singer and comedian was at the Office Depot at 6325 N. Andrews Avenue to give away 10,000 backpacks filled with school supplies to deserving children served by non-profit organizations.

The star told NBC 6 that the cause is close to his heart.

"It's so cool to see the young people, especially when you're encouraging them and inspiring them for something positive like education, and to see them get excited about it," Cannon said.

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Cannon helped give away another 10,000 "sackpacks" at 3:30 p.m. in Miami.

"Well, it just makes it very, very special because Nick gives a very special message to these children about staying in school and giving the message about you can be whatever you want to be and education is very, very important," said Mary Wong, the president of the Office Depot Foundation.

Ariana, a 5-year-old student, told NBC 6 she was excited.

"It's really fun," she said. "I'm excited because I'm going to school."

The foundation, in its 12th year, is working to donate 400,000 "sackpacks" across the world.

"People don't really think about it because it seems like a small thing, school supplies, but just giving a young person something to say, 'Hey, I want to make sure you're going in the right direction,'" Cannon said.

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Cannon, who has two children with wife Mariah Carey, has been host of NBC's "America's Got Talent" since 2009.

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