CVS/pharmacy Charitable Trust Awards $60,000 Dollars to Six Non-Profit

WOONSOCKET, R.I., March 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The CVS/pharmacy Charitable Trust, the private foundation managed by CVS Corporation , announced today that it has awarded $60,000 in grants to six non- profit organizations in Florida.

"We are pleased to support these very worthy charities that are working hard in our communities to improve people's lives," said Eileen Howard Dunn, Vice President of the CVS/pharmacy Charitable Trust. "A CVS/pharmacy Charitable Trust grant is an effective way for us to give back to the communities where we do business. We are especially pleased to expand our grant program to the many new markets we entered in late 2004 through our acquisition of 1,260 Eckerd drug stores."

Grants were awarded to organizations dedicated to healthcare, education and community engagement. "The foundation focuses on those projects that clearly demonstrate they are meeting a need within the community, and where collaborative efforts and measurement tools are in place to track success. We are confident that each of the non-profits we chose to work with in the coming year will create positive change and influence in the communities we serve together," said Howard Dunn.

In many cases, CVS/pharmacy associates become involved with grantees by providing volunteer assistance, participating in other fund-raisers and assisting in outreach and education services.

Florida based organizations that received a grant from the CVS/pharmacy Charitable Trust are:

University of Miami Sickle Cell Center

Description of grant: Project is the creation of the University of Miami Sickle Cell Educational Center for Youth & Families, within the existing facility of the Sickle Cell Center. One of primary problems for children with this disease is their school performance. The program has 2 primary goals: 1) provide general info about SCD with emphasis in symptom prevention and coping skills, and to help with learning school disabilities and vocational counseling for adolescents and young adults with SCD until age 21.

Link to website: http://pediatrics.med.miami.edu/sickle_cell.htm Contact name at organization: Diane Harnden (305) 585-5639 A Gift for Teaching of Tampa

Description of grant: Grant will help expand local programs to reach an additional 3,000 students by providing them with basic school supplies that they can't afford to purchase. A Gift for Teaching of Tampa allows teachers to shop at their store to purchase donated items at a reduce cost.

Contact name at organization: Sue M. House (813) 247-3193 Shepherds Hope, Inc.

Description of grant: The Trusts grant of $10,000 supports organizations medication budget to purchase generic medication to ensure that low income patients who receive free medical care at Health Center have medication they need to get well. Patients are often not able to afford prescription medicine even if they have a valid prescription from a physician because they can't afford it.

Link to website: http://www.shepherdshope.org/ Contact name at organization: Cindi Kopelman (407) 876-6699 CITE, Lighthouse of the Visually Impaired

Description of grant: Support from the CVS/pharmacy Charitable Trust will help expand Early Intervention Services for infants and toddlers with blindness and severe visual impairments. This is the only organization in central Florida that provides these services and there is currently a waiting list due to limited staff.

Link to website: http://www.centralfloridalighthouse.org/index.htm Contact name at organization: Marilyn Hattaway (407) 898-2483 Grows Literacy Council, Inc.

Description of grant: The purpose of the project is to involve entire families in the learning process, empowering parents to improve their English and maintain high expectations for their children's educational success. It is designed to teach/improve participant's English speaking, reading, and writing skills with goal of upgrading their employment and life skills.

Link to website: http://grows.floridaliteracy.org/index.html Contact name at organization: Frances Vargas (407) 889-0100 Stepping Stone Foundation, Inc.

Description of grant: Stepping Stone is the community organization in a 5 county Central FL area that provides critically needed medical equipment and services for qualified medically indigent individuals. Particular program serves uninsured/underinsured children with severe motor and other developmental disabilities. The CVS grant will be used to provide developmental medical equipment for 9-10 medically needy disabled children.

Contact name at organization: Kerra Price (407) 649-4100

The CVS/pharmacy Charitable Trust will be accepting applications for 2005 grants from May 1 to June 15, 2005.

For additional information, go to http://www.cvs.com/corpInfo/community/charitable_mission.html.

The CVS Charitable Trust, Inc. is a private foundation managed by CVS Corporation, which operates more than 5,000 CVS/pharmacy stores in 36 states. The Trust's mission is to provide funding for health care, education and community involvement initiatives in communities where CVS stores are located. General information about CVS is available through the Investor Relations portion of the Company's website at http://investor.cvs.com/, or through the website's press room at http://www.cvs.com/pressroom.

CONTACT: Mike DeAngelis CVS Corporation 401-770-2645