Walmart 1998 Annual Report Download - page 7

rom the beginning, Sam
Walton believed that each
Wal-Mart store should reflect
the values of its customers and
community. That’s why local asso-
ciates are at the heart of Wal-Mart
community outreach programs.
Guided by associates, Wal-Mart
has helped countless individuals
and organizations, from tiny Baby
Grace, a Children’s Miracle Network
child, to the Cullman, AL schools,
where Distribution Center 6006
raised $15,000 to help replace a
building destroyed by fire.
This emphasis on giving back
has benefited Wal-Mart, as well.
It’s no coincidence that the top
stores in sales generally are the
most involved in the community.
Associates’ involvement is key to
Wal-Mart’s role as the official mass
merchandise sponsor for Children’s
Miracle Network, a group of 170
children’s hospitals. Local stores have
sponsored a variety of activities
over the past decade to raise $104
million for CMN — $20 million in
1997 alone. In Myrtle Beach, S.C.
(Store 643), associates have done
their part, holding bake sales, fund-
raising meals and shopping sprees.
Their generosity was repaid when
Grace Young was born at just 23
weeks, weighing 15 ounces.
Baby Grace, as she’s known in
the Wal-Mart family, was the small-
est baby ever to survive in McLeod
Children’s Hospital in Florence,
S.C. State-of-the-art care helped
her reach five pounds after four
months in the Neonatal Intensive
Care Unit. Only then was she able
to come home with her mother,
Libby Young, a 12-year Wal-Mart
associate at Store 643.
Companywide, associates and
customers initiated giving of more
than $63.1 million last year through
five major community outreach
programs. The bulk was $34 million
in Community Matching Grants,
in which the Wal-Mart Foundation
matches funds raised by local stores.
Wal-Mart associates proved that
“Voluntarism Pays,” as the founda-
tion contributed $400,000 to local
charities. $100 was given for each
15 hours of volunteer work per
quarter contributed by associates.
The giving included $47,220
in Associate Matching Grants as
Wal-Mart matched associates’
donations of $25 to $250 to colleges
of their choice.
As part of America’s Hometown
Leader Program, local stores select-
ed outstanding teachers - 1,800
across the country - and the foun-
dation donated $500 to each
honoree’s school.
Wal-Mart invests heavily in the
latest technology, and our faith in
the future extends to tomorrow’s
leaders, with sponsorship of five
college scholarship programs for
deserving young people.
At the local level, each Wal-Mart
store provides a $1,000 Sam
Walton Community Scholarship to
one student for his or her freshman
year of college. This program, funded
by the foundation, has awarded
nearly $20 million in scholarships
since 1981.
Wal-Mart associates generate $102 million in gifts in 1997.
ivingBACK
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Baby Grace, all ready to go home with her
mother, Libby, and grandmother.
7
$50 million in scholarship contributions
Community Scholarship
Foundation Scholarship
Competitive Edge Scholarship
Associates Scholarship
$20
$23
$1.5
$5