CVS Health (No. 50 on the Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Top 50 Companies list) announced that its customers and colleagues donated nearly $4 million to support the Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico communities that were devastated by recent hurricanes, during a 10-day in-store fundraising campaign. The company also announced that it will donate more than $6 million of critical products and supplies to these communities, bringing CVS Health’s total support to $10 million.
The funds will be split evenly between Unidos por Puerto Rico, Rebuild Texas Fund and the Florida Disaster Fund to help support rebuilding efforts in these affected communities over the coming weeks and months. Products will be distributed to communities where they are needed the most.
“We are incredibly grateful to our colleagues and customers who have demonstrated our values of caring and integrity over the past few weeks during these historic storms,” said Helena B. Foulkes, executive vice president, CVS Health and president, CVS Pharmacy. “The rebuilding process for many of these communities will take a long time, and we will continue to do our part by providing support during this difficult time.”
To ensure patients and customers received the medications and information they needed during the recent hurricanes, CVS Health mobilized an enterprise-wide effort to help with preparations and accommodations prior to and after the storms.
The company’s proprietary messaging platform enabled rapid and urgent communications to patients who were in the path of hurricanes. Text messages were sent to tens of thousands of patients, reminding them to plan ahead for any potential disruption from the storm. The messages also helped ensure delivery of specialty and other medications for patients in transition between home and safe shelter locations.
Additionally, the catastrophic impact and wide-spread power outages in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria posed particular challenges in coordinating resources for colleagues, customers and patients. In response, CVS Health transported much-needed specialty medications and essential equipment to support store operations in Puerto Ricoand, in some cases, delivered medication directly to individual patients who were in need.
“While it is never easy to manage through storms of this magnitude, hundreds of our colleagues have gone above and beyond to ensure that our patients, customers and communities are being served, despite the devastation impacting their own personal lives,” added Eileen Howard Boone, president of the CVS Health Charitable Foundation. “Their generosity, compassion and dedication to serving others whether it be patients, residents or co-workers is truly amazing.”
In addition to the funds raised through the in-store campaign, CVS Health and the CVS Health Foundation, colleagues and customers had previously donated nearly $800,000 in cash and in-kind product donations to the American Red Cross, Direct Relief, Salvation Army, Florida Disaster Fund, Unidos por Puerto Rico, Rebuild Texas Fund, the Greater Houston Community Foundation and the CVS Health Employee Relief Fund, a public charity designed to help CVS Health employees during unanticipated and unavoidable financial hardships and emergencies.
