Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida Receives Support from CVS Caremark Charitable Trust

PRLog (Press Release) - Mar. 16, 2012 - Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida has received a $25,000.00 grant from the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust, the private foundation created by CVS Caremark Corporation, whose purpose is to help people on their path to better health by providing funding for health care, education and community involvement initiatives. The grant to Goodwill is part of $4.3 million in grants awarded to 98 nonprofit organizations across the country as part of the 2011 grant cycle and includes multi-year grants from previous years.  

Goodwill (http://www.goodwillswfl.org) provides programs and services for people with disabilities and other disadvantages, with the goal of helping them become more independent and self-sufficient.  The grant will assist Goodwill’s High School/High-Tech (HS/HT) program, which provides career exploration, mentoring, and job shadowing opportunities to high school students with disabilities in Lee, Charlotte, Hendry, and Glades Counties.

“This is tremendous. It’s the largest grant that we’ve received for High School/High-Tech,” says Tim Goodman, HS/HT program manager.  “Last year, we could only provide 13 paid internships to our students.  This grant will help us expand our internship opportunities this summer.”

Goodman continues, “Now we can turn our focus to finding businesses and agencies that want to host a summer intern at no cost to them.”

“We are so excited to help these non-profit organizations start 2012 in a positive way with much-needed funding,” said Eileen Howard Boone, Vice President, CVS Caremark Charitable Trust.  “All of the non-profit organizations we support share our commitment to improving the lives of children with disabilities and we look forward to working with them in the year ahead.”

A number of these grants align with CVS Caremark All Kids Can, the company’s signature philanthropic program, focused on increasing access to early-intervention programs that help children develop strong foundations early in life, reducing barriers to medical rehabilitation and health care services and creating greater opportunities for physical activity and creativity.

Other CVS Caremark Charitable Trust grants provide support for medical services for the uninsured, grants to pharmacy schools, scholarships for the children of CVS Caremark colleagues and funding for community organizations for which CVS Caremark colleagues act as volunteers.

Goodwill’s HS/HT program is operated in cooperation with the Able Trust.  Goodwill also offers other youth-based initiatives, including the Goodwill L.I.F.E. Academy, a charter school for students with developmental disabilities. HS/HT has also recently received a $3,000 grant from the Computer Science Collaboration Project, which will be utilized to provide information technology internships.

More information about Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida is available at the agency's website: http://www.goodwillswfl.org.

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About Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, Inc.:
Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, Inc. serves Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry, and Glades Counties by providing programs and services to help people with disabilities and other disadvantages overcome their barriers to employment and independence. Primary funding for Goodwill’s programs is provided through the sale of donated and new goods at the agency’s 25 Retail & Donation Centers.

About the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust:
The CVS Caremark Charitable Trust, Inc. is a private foundation created by CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS). CVS Caremark is the largest pharmacy health care provider in the nation. The Trust's mission is to provide funding for health care, education and community involvement initiatives in CVS Caremark communities.

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