FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 30, 2004

Media Contact:
Rhonda Carpenter
Corporate Communications Specialist
727-461-1236, ext. 336
rhondac@eckerd.org

(l to r) VP Lucy Ogburn, commercial banking; EYA President and CEO Karen V. Waddell; Investment Officer Rick Cotton; VP Mary McElwain, commercial banking; and Senior VP Jeanine Hvozdovich, treasury management.

Eckerd Youth Alternatives Receives $12,500 AmSouth Contribution

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Eckerd Youth Alternatives (EYA) has received a $12,500 contribution from AmSouth Bank’s Wealth Management Group for ongoing support of EYA programs that benefit at-risk and troubled youth.

“We believe that the services provided by Eckerd Youth Alternatives’ varied programs to help young people redirect their lives are one of our communities’ best kept secrets, and that EYA is an organization where we can help make a meaningful difference,” said Rick Cotton, AmSouth senior portfolio manager for Tampa Bay.

“EYA’s philosophy of investing in the future one child at a time fits well with one of AmSouth’s key basic values — that of “improving someone’s life,” a measure we use in both our business and community service activities,” says Cotton. He and other local AmSouth employees have also made personal commitments to EYA, collecting toys for the institution’s recent Christmas program and helping where needed. Cotton presented the check recently to EYA’s President and CEO, Karen V. Waddell.

“The children’s needs are so great, and support like this makes a real difference to the young people we serve,” Waddell said. “We are delighted and thankful to have AmSouth as a member of our Chairman’s Circle of supporters; this contribution will allow us to help even more kids in the communities we serve.” 

About Eckerd Youth Alternatives
Eckerd Youth Alternatives is a private non-profit organization that serves more than 9,500 at-risk and troubled youth each year. Since 1968, more than 60,000 young people have been helped through a range of 41 residential and community-based Eckerd youth programs: outdoor therapeutic treatment programs, juvenile justice programs, follow-up ReEntry programs and Hi-Five early intervention and prevention services. Headquartered in Clearwater, Fla., Eckerd Youth Alternatives provides youth programs in eight states: Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio, Vermont, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. For more information, call 727-461-2990 or visit our Web site at www.eckerd.org.