Retailers connect through giving
CVS Health president and CEO Larry Merlo and CFO Dave Denton
Every day retailers leverage their strong neighborhood bonds to feed some mighty and noble causes. Here are some — but not all — of our current favorites.
(To view the full Special Report, click here.)
Walgreens: Red Nose Day
Walgreens Boots Alliance, in partnership with NBC, brought over a U.K. tradition in 2015 with Red Nose Day, which supports nonprofit organizations that help lift children out of poverty. Walgreens sold red noses for $1 in the weeks leading up to NBC’s televised fundraising event. The three-hour benefit helped raise more than $21 million for the cause, more than one-third of which came out of the Walgreens partnership. “We really exceeded all of the goals that we put forth for the organization,” said Linn Jordan, Walgreens Boots Alliance director marketing, strategy and planning. “We want to carry forward the momentum that we’ve accomplished with Red Nose Day into other initiatives ... that we celebrate and support as a part of our overall purpose.”
CVS Health: Stand Up To Cancer
CVS Health supports Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), a program founded by the Entertainment Industry Foundation that supports innovative cancer research. In September, CVS Health and SU2C introduced the public service campaign, “It’s Impossible to Beat Cancer Alone,” to raise awareness on the importance of collaboration. That awareness effort was followed by CVS Health’s second annual in-store fundraising campaign, which is part of a three-year, $10 million commitment. “We’re so proud to collaborate with Stand Up To Cancer to positively impact people living with cancer,” said Helena Foulkes, president, CVS/pharmacy. “Join- ing our colleagues and customers in supporting this groundbreaking research is a great extension of CVS Health’s purpose of helping people on their path to better health.”
Rite Aid: KidCents
The biggest outreach of Rite Aid’s philanthropic arm is KidCents, which supports nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children. Rite Aid loyalty card holders have the ability to designate specific charities to give their change to on Kidcents.com. Most recently, the Rite Aid Foundation donated $1.3 million to Folds of Honor, an organization dedicated to providing educational scholarships to children of fallen or disabled veterans. “KidCents is really the umbrella that we’re hanging everything on,” said Ken Martindale, CEO Rite Aid Stores and president Rite Aid Corp. “Everything we’re doing, we’re trying to bring it down to the local community that we operate in.”
Walmart: Greenlight a Vet
Walmart most recently launched Greenlight a Vet, which includes a promise by Walmart to hire 250,000 veterans by 2020. In addition, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have pledged $20 million in grants to organizations that provide veteran job training, education and community-based collaboration. “Through continued, collaborative work with our nonprofit partners, we greenlight innovative public and private community-based initiatives that address the navigation challenges many of our veterans face when returning to the civilian workforce and their communities,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, president of the Walmart Foundation
Dollar General Literacy Foundation
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation was established in 1993 in honor of co-founder J.L. Turner, who was functionally illiterate. Since then, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $100 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and schools that have helped more than 6 million individuals learn to read, prepare for the high school equivalency test or learn the English language.