Rent-A-Center Donates $25,000 to FloridaChild as Part of the Florida Tax Credit for Scholarships Program
PLANO, Texas, Jan. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Rent-A-Center, Inc. (Nasdaq: RCII) announces its participation in The Florida Tax Credit for Scholarships Program by donating $25,000 to FloridaChild in Miami, one of several Scholarship Funding Organizations in Florida. The Program was created in 2001 by the state legislature to provide low-income parents the opportunity to send their children to the public or private school of their choice. Since January 1, 2002, Florida Scholarship Funding Organizations like FloridaChild have received more than 40,000 applications from low-income children seeking a scholarship. To date, 16,000 children have been awarded transportation and tuition grants.
"We are all for programs that benefit children and especially when it can impact our customers and their families," says Rent-A-Center Chairman and CEO Mark Speese. "Florida's Tax Credit for Scholarships Program gives Rent-A- Center a great way to accomplish this and gives children a better chance for success in school."
"Low-income families will benefit 100 percent from Rent-A-Center's generosity," says Dr. M. Tina Dupree, director of FloridaChild. "It's a win- win situation because families get to choose where their children will be educated, the company has an opportunity to give back to the community, and Florida wins because children will be getting a quality education."
FloridaChild is the latest child-based program supported by Rent-A-Center. The Company has distributed flyers and displayed photos of missing children in its stores for The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and has assisted the Kid Care program by preparing more than 10,000 Kid Care Identification booklets at stores in Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Wisconsin.
Rent-A-Center, Inc., headquartered in Plano, TX, currently operates more than 2,400 company-owned stores nationwide and in Puerto Rico. The stores offer high-quality, durable goods such as home electronics, appliances, computers, furniture and accessories to consumers under flexible rental purchase agreements that allow the customer to obtain ownership of the merchandise at the conclusion of an agreed-upon rental period. The Company also owns ColorTyme, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary and national franchisor of 329 rent-to-own stores. For more information about Rent-A-Center, visit www.rentacenter.com . For more information about FloridaChild, visit www.floridachild.org . SOURCE Rent-A-Center, Inc.
-0- 01/16/2003
/CONTACT: Mary Gazioglu, Communications Manager of Rent-A-Center, Inc., +1-972-801-1107, or mgazioglu@racenter.com /
/Web site: http://www.floridachild.org