To raise awareness and funds for nonprofit organizations supporting children, families, education and wellness in our home region of New England, we also sponsor charitable events.
CVS Caremark Charity Classic
The CVS Caremark Charity Classic is Rhode Island’s largest charitable sporting event and hosts some of the best PGA and LPGA professional golfers in the world. Funds generated by the tournament, launched in 1999, are distributed to area nonprofit organizations that provide vital funding to a range of programs serving children, families and people in transition throughout Southeastern New England.
In 2011, the CVS Caremark Charity Classic generated nearly $1.2 million for local charities, bringing the total funds raised since its inception to more than $15 million.
Funds raised by the 2011 event supported the important missions of a range of charities, in turn, touching the lives of people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities. The Charity Classic provided significant funding to target critical needs within the community from helping the Good Neighbor Energy Fund, which provides energy assistance to Rhode Islanders who are unable to pay their energy bills and do not qualify for federal or state funds; to assisting the Autism Project of Rhode Island with programs that improve the education and lives of individuals with autism; to supporting the San Miguel School in Providence in offering a quality education to boys from challenging circumstances.
A total of 64 nonprofit organizations received funds raised through the CVS Caremark Charity Classic in 2011.
CVS Caremark Downtown 5K
CVS Caremark’s annual Downtown 5K raised $75,000 for charity in 2011. Funds awarded to youth-focused nonprofit organizations and schools from Southern New England during CVS Caremark’s 12-year sponsorship of the race reached $1.3 million.
To further promote health care and to emphasize the importance of physical activity for children, CVS Caremark Downtown 5K also awarded $500 grants to 10 schools that won random drawings. Elementary, middle and high school teams with 25 or more children who participated in the 2011 CVS Caremark Youth Races or High School Inspirational 3K qualified for the drawings, which were earmarked to assist physical education programs.
In 2011, we partnered with EARTHTEC, a company that develops sustainable lifestyle apparel from recycled materials. Through their EARTH360 program, they offer recycling services, collect recyclable items and then turn them into apparel. Following the CVS Caremark Downtown 5K, EARTHTEC collected roughly 12,000 empty plastic CVS Big Chill water bottles that will ultimately be turned into about 3,000 recycled t-shirts using about four bottles per shirt. The plastic is shredded, washed, melted down, turned into thread, then fabric, then apparel and accessories.
