CVS Cares About The Community

CVS Caremark is the largest provider of prescriptions in the entire nation.  They provide more than 1 billion prescriptions annually.  Being such a large and successful company, CVS finds it important to give back to the communities which make what they do possible.  CVS Caremark has many giving programs which are widespread.  They are designed to help people of all ages from all backgrounds.  It is good for CVS to give back in order to preserve a good image amongst the public.  The website which talks in depth about CVS's community relations does a good job of letting you know that they truly care about the community at large and want to help out in any way possible.  

CVS does various thing in order to help out in the community.  These things include cash grants, in-kind contributions, sponsorships and fund raising events.  All of these things help them from a public relations stand point because there name gets out there and people get to see that they are giving back through kind programs and donations.  But what looks even better for them is the fact that CVS employees and colleagues volunteerism.  This allows people to actually put a face on CVS and see them directly giving back as apposed to just writing a check.  CVS is proud of there colleagues' commitment to volunteerism so much so that they have created the CVS Caremark Community Crew, which is a company-wide volunteer initiative.  Employees of CVS have become a large helping hand in the communities throughout the years.  This program supports children with disabilities as well as other things like volunteering at a local food bank, or even mentoring a student.

The largest and most productive organization within CVS is the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust.  This organizations primary focus is to support charitable organizations that are helping out and making a difference in the lives of children with disabilities.  One of there biggest programs is called All Kids Can.  This program is supported by the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust and is a five-year, $25 million dollar commitment to making life easier for those children who have disabilities.  This program helps support non profit organizations provided the programs and services needed to help children with disabilities learn play and succeed in life.  Through this program they help build playgrounds for children of all abilities to play with one another, and also provide medical rehabilitation for those who have disabilities. CVS has pledged over one million dollars to a program called Boundless Playgrounds in order to help build playgrounds across the country where children of all abilities can play together.

Aside from the charity work which CVS does on the home-front, they also donate to others across the world in their time of need.  CVS has been seen donating over a million dollars to the American Red Cross in hopes to help with relief efforts for those victims who were effected by the tsunami in southern Asia.  People definitely recognized CVS for being so generous.  It makes CVS look good when they are seen helping out in such a tragic situation.  The donations were given to the American Red Cross, RI district, and they were definitely greatfull.


"We are
extremely fortunate to have CVS/pharmacy as our neighbor and their commitment to
community and to those in need is unparalleled." - Daniel Samborn, CEO of American Red Cross, RI district


This helps prove that CVS cares about what is going on around the world and that they are good at heart and help those who are in crisis if they can.  And by doing this the image of CVS continues to grow for the better.  It also looks very good for somebody from CVS to speak about the issue, so as the public can put a face to whom it is that is actually helping.  CVS does this very well.  

"All of us at CVS are concerned about the devastating impact this disaster
has had on the population of South Asia. We are pleased to support relief and
recovery efforts in the region with a donation from the CVS/pharmacy Charitable
Trust to the American Red Cross," said Eileen Howard Dunn, Vice President of
Corporate Communications and Community Relations at CVS and Director of the
CVS/pharmacy Charitable Trust. 

This makes the public feel as if CVS is actually involved, and actually cares about those who were impacted by this disaster, rather then just donating money.


The programs which are developed are carefully chosen based of the community which the stores are located in.  It is through these various programs that CVS has become an active participant in helping people live better lives.  CVS's main mission as a pharmacy is to provide expert care and innovative solutions in pharmacy and health care which is easily accessible for their customers.  And that is why they choose to run programs in the community which enhance health care services, create healthier communities and enhance the lives of children with disabilities.  They do this because they also want to strive to improve the quality of human life.  I believe that they do a great job of choosing how to go about donating, and contributing to the communities which surround them, and I believe that it can be seen amongst the publics how generous CVS is as a company and as a whole.  Many more examples CVS's community relations can be found directly on their website.  On there website you can learn more about this topic, you can read about their success stories, and tons of press releases help show how much CVS actually does give back with huge monthly donations across the country.  

CVS Caremark Charity Classic

On CVS’s website they have an entire portion dedicated to its community, and the events which it hosts in order to give back and show its dedication to that community.  One of the best ways in which CVS gives back to its community is through fundraising. CVS CAREMARK

CVS is very good about giving back to the community and proves this to its publics by hosting events annually to give back to the community through generous donations.  One of the most well known of these events is the CVS Caremark Charity Classic.  What this is, is a professional golf tournament that takes place in Barrington, Rhode Island.  It is separate from the other professional golf tours and is a two-day, two-man team event.  This tournament is hosted by CVS and it is a charity event which brings 20 professional golfers from around the world to Rhode Island to take time out of there schedules and to play for free for charity.   This event raises so much money for different charities.

CVS pitches the event by allowing the entire thing to be seen worldwide.  It is broadcasted on television as well as has a twitter page (http://twitter.com/cvsclassicgolf) following the event throughout the entire competition.  Allowing everybody to see CVS giving back to the community has a very positive effect on the companies perception.  It is always good to be seen giving back to the community and showing that you care.  I believe that CVS does a great job of sponsoring the event as well as does a great job of showing its through different media sources how much it cares about the community and how much they gives back by gaining money for various charities.  I believe that whoever is in charge of covering this event has done a great job thus far and I do not see any need for change. 

The tournament which takes place from June 27-29 every year usually is supported directly by Tom Ryan, who is the CEO and president of the CVS corporation.  He is the man who is most responsible for keeping the tournament alive.  It is good for the publics to see such a high up supporting the events which the company creates to give back to the community.  It lets the people know that he cares, and since he is the face of the company, that CVS itself is actually present at the event and is witnessing and taking part in the event.  This lets people know that CVS isn’t just posing some publicity stunt, but that they actually care and enjoy being involved with the community and to showing this to the public. Unfortunately Tom Ryan was unable to make it to this past years tournament, but Larry Merlo, who next may will succeed Ryan and become the company’s new chief operating officer was there to get things under way.  And he made it clear that when he is in charge that this event will continue to give back to organizations world wide. 

“If you look at what this tournament does, it’s raised over $13 million for charities,” Merlo said. “It all started with the Goldsteins (Stanley and Sidney, who founded the company) in terms of giving back to the community. Tom has continued that focus. I don’t expect it will be any different as we move forward.”

One of the reason that CVS does such a good job with this is because they don’t just say that they are giving money away to charities, but everybody who watches the event and everybody who takes part in the event actually get a good feeling.  They know what a positive effect that an event has on the community and the lives in which they are helping.  I feel even better about CVS after reading some of the press releases which have been written about this event which can be easily found on the main website of the charity classic.  press-releases

“Personally I am proud to be a part of this tournament because I know that it will help someone somewhere. Each one of the volunteers here should feel the exact same way. They should realize that even in the smallest way they are helping affect someone else for the better. Professional golfers take time out of their busy schedules to come play for fun.”  -Darryl R.

Many other press releases display a similar attitude towards the event, and cant help you but to feel as if they must be doing something good and for the right causes.

I believe the idea of hosting a golf tournament to raise money is a very good way to gain a positive image to the company because it keeps viewers entertained with a sport that is viewed by thousands of people daily, and millions of fans worldwide.   

The company has definitely successful in this fundraising event as they have raised over 12 million in the past 11 years.  They  have also been overall successful in the way in which they communicate this event with the publics to show what it is that they are doing in the community to give back.  This is an event that people look forward to year long.  They do a great job of letting everybody know how thankful they are for participating as well as watching the event, because the fans too are what make this event successful and possible. 

“Thanks to the support of thousands of volunteers, sponsors, golfers, and fans, this prestigious tournament has brought world-class professional golf to Rhode Island. What is most remarkable is that the Charity Classic has been able to provide more than $13 million to regional charities, with a record $1.8 million in 2008. This would not be possible without world-class fans!”

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