J. C. Penney Company, Inc. established JCPenney Afterschool, a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to ensuring that every child in need has access to an afterschool program in their community. As an advocate for the afterschool issue, JCPenney works to increase opportunities offered by afterschool programs. Through its legacy of supporting youth and

charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

s such as the

Boys & Girls Clubs of America Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, has i ...

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

of the USA, National 4-H Conference,

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

and

FIRST First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, JCPenney formalized its commitment to the afterschool issue by making it the company’s signature cause in 1999. Since its inception, more than $80 million has been distributed to afterschool programs in every JCPenney community.

About the afterschool issue

A study shows that one out of every four children in America are on their own between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Despite growing participation in afterschool programs (8.4 million children), the availability of quality afterschool programs is not keeping pace with the rising needs of 15 million children who have no place to go after school. JCPenney works with afterschool organizations to increase the accessibility and affordability of afterschool programs across the country.

Contributions and fundraising

Round-up for JCPenney Afterschool In 2007, JCPenney began

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

events throughout the year to allow the community to support an afterschool program. During each event, customers are invited to round-up their JCPenney purchases to the nearest whole dollar and

donate A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donation may satisfy medical needs such as blo ...

the difference to JCPenney Afterschool. In 2009, customer contributions resulted in an annual total of $4.7 million. All proceeds raised directly benefitted a local afterschool program in over 1,100 communities where JCPenney has a store. Sponsorship of the Rascal Flatts Unstoppable Tour JCPenney was the official sponsor of the

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American Country music, country music band formed in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background voc ...

Unstoppable tour. The band promoted JCPenney's brand "American Living," a concept by

Polo Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren Corporation is an American public company, publicly traded fashion and lifestyle brand founded in 1967 by Ralph Lauren in New York City. The company markets products in apparel, home, accessories, and fragrances, and is most known ...

's Global Concept Group. In conjunction with the tour, Rascal Flatts wrote a bonus track for their new CD to debut April 7, 2009, entitled "American Living." $1 of each CD sold was donated to JCPenney Afterschool.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jcpenney Afterschool Fund Educational charities based in the United States JCPenney Charities based in Texas