by
Dan Perkins
At
a time when many corporations are cutting back on their
donations and civic involvements, the
Walgreen
Company is donating one million reading eyeglasses to
seven African countries. The donation is being made through a project called the "African
Eyeglass Initiative."
The project became a reality
with the assistance of Congressman Danny K. Davis
(Democrat, 7th Congressional District), and was publicly
announced at a ceremony held on October 20th outside a
Walgreens store located on the West Side of Chicago in a
predominantly African American community. Company officials
and Congressman Davis were present as several hundred
eyeglasses were presented to Executive Governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed of
Lagos State, Nigeria. The eyeglasses were a sample of the 200,000 eyepieces
scheduled for shipment to Nigeria.
Walgreens decided to donate the reading
glasses
after updating its inventory of eyeglasses.
"When we changed over our
eyeglass inventory recently, there was an exceedingly large
amount of inventory discontinued due to outdated styles," said
Carol Hively, a Walgreen's spokesperson. "The
last time Walgreens made such a drastic turnover of its
eyeglass inventory was around 15 years ago, when the chain (and
our inventory) was much smaller."
Today, Walgreens has 3,888 drugstores in 43
states and Puerto Rico, and is the
nation's largest drugstore chain and 11th largest
retailer. The company has enjoyed 28
consecutive years of record sales and earnings. Fortune
magazine ranks Walgreens the 78th largest company in
America.
The Walgreen company, which
is based in Illinois, turned to Illinois Congressman Danny
Davis for help in finding ways to put the inventory of old eyeglasses
to good use.
Davis, who was re-elected
this month to another term in congress, has organized two task forces that look at issues of health and social
conditions on the African continent. The African Affairs Task Force is
chaired by attorney Judi Rogers and the Health Task Force
is co-chaired by Drs. Shaffdeen A. Amuwo and Johnson Sonoiki. The two task forces identified seven African countries
that had discernable need for the eyeglasses. The task
forces looked at population, literacy rates and health
conditions in each of the countries to determine the
quantity of eyeglasses each would receive.
The countries receiving
the eyeglasses include Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa,
Tanzania and Uganda. The Walgreen Company will facilitate the
shipment of the
eyeglasses
from its warehouse to eastern U.S. ports. Congressman
Davis and his task forces will make arrangements with
carriers to transport the eyeglasses from the ports to
the selected African countries.
Among the persons serving on Congressman Davis' African
Affairs and Health Task Forces are Prince Asiel Ben Israel,
Chairman and Dr. Toni Luck, Executive Vice President of
BSI International. Both have agreed to serve as
lead coordinators in the distribution of the eyeglasses.
"We value our corporate responsibility role, particularly
in improving the quality of health for communities of
color," said Ed King, Director of Community Affairs
and Government Relations for the Walgreen Company. "In a small
but important way, these thousands of eyeglasses will assist
in enhancing literacy and vision for many people in Africa. We
appreciate the help that Congressman Davis and his office have
provided in facilitating this project."
The End
