2009 Archive

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Feb 11, 2009	Contact: Muriel Cooper Phone: (202) 263-2829 mcooper@cbcfinc.org
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Extends Partnership With CBCF to Continue to Provide Scholarships and Internships $1 million grant will help to support and develop the next generation of leaders

WASHINGTON, D.C. – February 11, 2009 – The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) today announced a new $1 million three-year grant from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. to provide scholarship and internship opportunities for deserving African-American college students. The grant will support the CBCF’s Emerging Leaders Internship Program and the Strive for Excellence Scholarship Program. Each program will receive a total of $500,000 over the next three years to help support and develop the next generation of global leaders by providing access and opportunities to deserving students from across the nation.

 

 

“The CBCF appreciates Wal-Mart’s generous support of our scholarship and internship programs,” said Elsie L. Scott, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of the CBC Foundation. “Wal-Mart continues to step up to the plate and the company’s generosity allows our Foundation to help promising students gain up-close experience in government and business. And of course, in today’s economic environment the scholarship funds are more important now than ever.”

 

 

The CBCF first began its partnership with Wal-Mart in 2006, when the retailer provided an initial $1 million, three-year grant to establish the CBCF and Wal-Mart Strive for Excellence Scholarship Program and the CBCF and Wal-Mart Emerging Leaders Internship Program. Both programs were created to provide students with the funding and experiences needed to reach their educational and career goals.

 

 

“Wal-Mart has been a great partner with the CBCF over many years,” said U.S. Representative Kendrick B. Meek, CBCF Chairman. “The internship program will provide opportunities to our young people and help them turn their dreams into a reality by gaining meaningful work experience underneath the U.S. Capitol dome.”

 

 

“At Wal-Mart, diversity is embedded in the way we operate,” said Raymond Bracy, senior vice president of U.S. government relations for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. “In our changing global environment, we expect diverse backgrounds, experiences and opinions in our board room, our stores and Clubs, and among our business partners. After all, the communities we serve represent many races, cultures and languages. Under the continued leadership of Congressman Meek, the CBCF Foundation will engage in an expanded effort to provide up and coming African-American college students with valuable educational and internship experiences that will prepare them for future leadership.”

 

 

The CBCF and Wal-Mart Emerging Leaders Internship Program will continue its semester-long experience that is designed to bring the policy making process to life. Working together in a community service setting, the students learn ways to enact change to confront complex challenges facing current and future generations.

 

 

For more information on Wal-Mart’s commitment to diversity and education, please visit www.walmartstores.com.

 

 

About Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT)

 

Every week, millions of customers visit Walmart Stores, supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, and Sam’s Club locations across America or log on to its online store at www.walmart.com. The company and its Foundation are committed to a philosophy of giving back locally. Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) is proud to support the causes that are important to customers and associates right in their own neighborhoods, and last year gave more than $296 million to local communities in the United States. More information about Walmart can be found by visiting www.walmartstores.com. Online merchandise sales are available at www.walmart.com.

 

 

About the CBCF The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (CBCF) was established in 1976 as a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy, research and educational institute. Its mission is to serve as the non-partisan policy-oriented catalyst that educates future leaders and promotes collaboration among legislators, business leaders, minority-focused organizational leaders, and organized labor to effect positive and sustainable change in the African American community. To that end, CBCF works to broaden and elevate the influence of African Americans in the political, legislative, and public policy arenas.