Eckerd Youth Alternatives Recognized Nationally for Making a Difference

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 20, 2005

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

Eckerd Youth Alternatives Recognized Nationally for Making a Difference
Make a Difference Day, a National Community-Service Project

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Eckerd Youth Alternatives, one of the nation’s leading not-for-profit organizations providing programs and treatment for troubled and at-risk youth, received national honors April 17, 2005, in “USA Weekend” magazine for outstanding Make a Difference Day community service projects Oct. 23, 2004.

Eight Eckerd Youth Alternatives’ projects in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee were honored among the 514 newspaper award winners listed in the national Sunday supplement magazine. They included seven programs and the Clearwater headquarters office: camps E-How-Kee, E-Nini-Hassee, E-Ma-Laku, E-Ten-Etu, E-Ma-Etu and E-Sun-Alee, Eckerd Youth Development Center and the Clearwater office.

The organization’s participation, with 33 programs conducting 41 volunteer projects, benefited more than 20,000 neighbors. Eckerd Youth Alternatives’ programs in seven states led their community efforts in the 14th Annual “Make a Difference Day” Oct. 23. The organization joined millions of people nationally to help others.

For their projects

E-How-Kee, Brooksville, Fla., washed cars to help the American Red Cross;
E-Nini-Hassee, Floral City, Fla., created Santa’s workshop at the county resource center and held a parent-daughter activity day;
E-Ma-Laku, Suches, Ga., landscaped the grounds of an elementary school and refurbished a memorial;
E-Ten-Etu, Manson, N.C., collected coats for kids in four counties;
E-Ma-Etu, Boomer, N.C., improved the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in two separate projects and adopted U.S. soldiers in Iraq;
E-Sun-Alee, Deerlodge, Tenn., cleaned area state parks, including fixing handicap ramps for accessibility, and adopted the 278th National Guard Battalion and Iraqi school children;
Eckerd Youth Development Center, Okeechobee, Fla., conducted a home improvement project; and
The Clearwater office improved two elementary schools’ campuses.

“So many of the youth who come to our programs have so little in their home life,” said Karen V. Waddell, EYA president and CEO. “Yet they give from their hearts to help others. Volunteerism is a tenet on which Jack Eckerd established our organization and one we honor and uphold at our youth programs.”

As a not-for-profit organization, Eckerd Youth Alternatives practices community service and encourages volunteerism among our youth. Helping others and participating in this national project was also a way of honoring our founder Jack Eckerd, who died May 19, 2004, at age 91.

Make a Difference Day is sponsored by “USA Weekend” magazine, in partnership with the Points of Light Foundation. The top ten projects also received $10,000 awards. The national judges were Paul Newman, actor and philanthropist; Robert K. Goodwin, president & CEO, Point of Light Foundation; Marcia Bullard, president & CEO, “USA Weekend” magazine; and Harry Smith, co-anchor, The Early Show on CBS.

Make a Difference Day is an event where millions of volunteers around the country spend one day performing activities to improve their communities and help neighbors in need. This day is the largest community-service effort across America, rallying corporations, government leaders, charitable organizations and every day citizens.

About Eckerd Youth Alternatives
Eckerd Youth Alternatives is a private non-profit organization that serves more than 9,900 at-risk and troubled youth each year. Since 1968, more than 63,000 young people have been helped through a range of 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.