Guild for Exceptional Children joins Rite Aid’s KidsCents charity

Bay Ridge group benefits from pharmacy donation program

December 31, 2014 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Pharmacy District Manager Anna Vakhle; Regional Group Director Christopher Lynch; Guild Executive Director/CEO, Paul Cassone; District Manager Toni Pastre; Pharmacy Regional Vice President Margherita Cardello; and Group Vice President Mark Kramer (left to right) celebrate the KidsCents program. Photo courtesy Guild for Exceptional Children

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A Bay Ridge-based organization that helps the developmentally disabled stands to benefit from shoppers buying shampoo, toothpaste and other items at local Rite Aid pharmacies.

The Guild for Exceptional Children (GEC), a non-profit agency headquartered at 260 68th St. that sponsors educational, recreational, health and wellness programs for developmentally disabled people all over Brooklyn, recently announced that has become a member of KidsCents, a charity sponsored by The Rite Aid Foundation.

Under the program, Rite Aid customers can agree to round up their purchases to the nearest dollar and to donate their change to help support child-focused charities.

The GEC will now be listed as one of the official KidsCents charities on The Rite Aid Foundation’s website, www.kidcents.com. Under the charity program, Rite Aid customers can visit www.kidcents.com, elect to round up their purchases and have the change donated to official KidsCents charities, which will now include the GEC.

To take part in the program, visit www.kidcents.com and follow the steps online to become a Rite Aid Wellness+ member and enroll intheKidsCents program. Membership in the Wellness+ program is free.

After joining Wellness+, shoppers can then login on www.kidscents.com and click “Select a Charity”on the website menu. Search for Guild for Exceptional Children among the listings and click the “Select this Charity” button.

The next time the shopper makes a purchase at Rite Aid, the change will donated to the GEC.

The KidsCents program is important to non-profit groups like the GEC, according to officials.

“This means funding for the GEC and our goal of helping children and adults living with developmental disabilities lead dignified lives, reaching their fullest potential and assisting families in every step of their journey. It also means that you have the ability to help us reach our goals by simply shopping at Rite Aid and rounding up your purchases for our organization, as well as asking your friends and family to participate in the program. The GEC is looking forward to our partnership with the Rite Aid Foundation and excited by the opportunities that KidsCents brings to our organization and those we help,” GEC officials said in a statement.