Walgreens 2008 Annual Report Download - page 17

2008 Walgreens Annual Report Page 15
Committed to schools
and scholars
Viridiana Fajardo, a junior at St. Martin
de Porres High School in Waukegan, Illinois,
works in the Marketing Services department
at Walgreens corporate headquarters in
Deerfield, Illinois, five days a month. She
participates in her high school’s work
study program, which pays for part of her
education. This is one of several mentoring
programs Walgreen sponsors to help
students. To support pharmacy student
programs in 2008, the company donated
$1 million to help pharmacy schools
become more diverse.
“I’d lived in the house for only two-and-a-half
years when the flood destroyed everything,”
says Harris. “I moved in with relatives, sent
my dog to stay with a friend and started to
rebuild my life. My co-workers provided
tremendous hope and support, and the
company’s Benefit Fund allowed me to start
needed repairs right away.”
The Fund, a tax-exempt foundation, was
started during the Great Depression when
founder Charles Walgreen Sr. set aside
emergency monies for employees and
retirees. In 2008, the fund granted
$1.5 million to employees or retirees
in distress.
Putting the “green”
in Walgreens
Walgreen sold more than one million recyclable
“green” bags in the first year the product was
carried. If those bags stop customers from
using a plastic bag just every other week, they
keep more than 26 million plastic bags out of
landfills in a year. Other environmental projects
include energy-efficient lighting in stores and
the recycling of cardboard and shrink wrap in
distribution centers. Solar energy now powers
up to 10 percent of two distribution centers’
electricity needs. Walgreens also opened its
first “green roof” store last summer in Chicago.
Using drought-tolerant plants contained in
movable trays, green roofs absorb less of
the sun’s heat, keeping buildings cooler
and saving energy.
A special employee
brings his store joy
Louis Kline, a Walgreens service clerk with
Down syndrome in Lakeland, Tennessee,
stocks shelves and makes customers and
employees smile. “When Louis arrives at the
store, he starts by greeting everyone by
name,” says store manager Mark Lehner.
“We look forward to those times because
he’s a joy to be with.” In addition to employing
approximately 500 people with physical or
cognitive disabilities in 18 distribution facilities,
the company is welcoming more people
with disabilities into the retail workforce.
Wellness tour wheels free
screenings across America
Walgreens fleet of 10 wellness buses travels
across the United States and Puerto Rico to
provide free health care screenings and educa-
tional materials to underserved neighborhoods.
Each bus offers five screenings – blood glucose,
total cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass
index and bone density. The tour’s goal,
through February 2009, is to stop at more
than 2,400 stores and special events and to
provide $35 million worth of free screenings.