Junior Achievement of Arizona Welcomes Sam’s Club in JA BizTown®
(Tempe, Ariz.) – Our JA BizTown® keeps getting better! Thanks to a $20,000 grant from the Sam’s Club Giving Program, we have opened a Sam’s Club storefront in JA BizTown to support youth entrepreneurship education.
Sam’s Club is a leading membership warehouse club, but this location is unlike any of the others: It will be run entirely by children. The latest location will be a part of Junior Achievement of Arizona’s (JAAZ) educational facility. Sam’s Club has a broad partnership with JAAZ, including nearly 75 volunteers, sponsorship of classroom programs and representation on the board of directors.
“Junior Achievement is thrilled to add Sam’s Club to our JA BizTown community,” said Joyce Richards, president of Junior Achievement of Arizona. “We have had a close partnership with Sam’s Club since 2010 and this is a wonderful way to commemorate that partnership.”
Students who participate in the JA BizTown program will obtain a better understanding of how important it is to manage finances. They will have the opportunity to “work” in the store, learn what it takes to provide quality customer service and to support customers that are making important financial decisions for themselves and their families.
Todd Harkins, Market Membership Sales Manager of Arizona for Sam’s Club, said, “We are pleased that Sam’s Club is joining the other businesses in JA’s incredible BizTown. Our local Associates enjoy supporting Junior Achievement and working with the kids. It is our privilege to make this happen for the youth of Arizona.”
For more information, please visit www.jaaz.org
About Sam’s Club Giving
The Sam’s Club Giving Program is committed to building stronger communities through philanthropic efforts with a focus on small business growth and success. Sam’s Club and the Sam’s Club Giving Program gave $106.4 million in cash and in-kind gifts over the 2012 fiscal year including donating the equivalent of 50 million meals to local feeding America food banks. Associates from more than 600 U.S. clubs contributed more than 300,000 hours to volunteering at local businesses and nonprofits, enabling more than $3.2 million in awards to eligible organizations through the Volunteerism Always Pays (VAP) program. To learn more, visit SamsClub.com/giving.
About Junior Achievement of Arizona
Junior Achievement is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization which believes that every child deserves an education in economics and finances in order to inspire and prepare them for success in a global economy.
Serving Arizona’s youth since 1957, JA prepares young people for the real world by showing them how to become self-sufficient, how to create jobs which make their communities robust, and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace.
Junior Achievement of Arizona reached nearly 98,000 students during the 2012-2013 school year.
For more information on Junior Achievement or ways to get involved, please call 480-377-8500 or visit www.jaaz.org.
