Walgreens Mobilizes for Oklahoma Tornado Victims

Responding to Monday’s devastating tornado in the Oklahoma City area, Walgreens (NYSE: WAG) (Nasdaq: WAG) this week mobilized increased shipments of essential supplies to its area stores, made an initial donation of three semi-trailers of food, water and first aid supplies to the Oklahoma chapter of the American Red Cross and offered customers an opportunity to make donations at its Oklahoma drugstores.

The Walgreens store at 1041 S.W. 19th St. in Moore, Okla., suffered severe damage and is temporarily closed. To serve that area’s pharmacy patients, the company plans to locate a temporary pharmacy trailer at the site as soon as possible, and construction workers will begin rebuilding the store this week so it can be reopened for business.

Walgreens increased shipments of items such as food, water, first aid supplies and tetanus shots to keep store shelves and pharmacies stocked with essentials. The company also worked with the Oklahoma Board of Pharmacy to enact emergency procedures that allow pharmacists to help displaced patients refill prescriptions if they lack documentation or an empty prescription bottle.

“Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Moore and the entire Oklahoma City area who suffered such devastating losses,” said Bill Miller, Walgreens market vice president for Oklahoma. “They include our neighbors, our customers and our employees, and we want to support them in any way we can.”

At Walgreens drugstores throughout the state of Oklahoma, store employees began inviting customers to make point-of-purchase cash donations to the American Red Cross in amounts of $1, $5 and $10.

At least 18 Walgreens employees suffered property losses, ranging from moderate damage to property and automobiles to homes completely lost. Employees who suffered losses can apply for financial assistance to the Walgreens Benefit Fund, which was established by company founder Charles R. Walgreen Sr. after his death in 1939. The Walgreens Benefit Fund is a nonprofit organization devoted to distributing financial assistance to company employees who experience financial difficulties due to circumstances beyond their control, including natural disasters.

About Walgreens

As the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2012 sales of $72 billion, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) vision is to become America’s first choice for health and daily living. Each day, Walgreens provides more than 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. The company operates 8,086 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the country.