Duane Reade Celebrates Fourth Year Supporting AIDS Walk New York With Record Donation

NEW YORK, May 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Duane Reade Holdings, Inc. today announced that The Duane Reade Charitable Foundation has set a new fundraising record for the 26th annual AIDS Walk New York (AWNY) as a Presenting Sponsor of the event. AWNY raises funds for Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) and 41 other local AIDS service organizations that provide food, housing, medical care, and more to people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as vital prevention work that reached hundreds of thousands throughout the tri-state area. This year's 10-kilometer (6.2 mile) AWNY is expected to attract more than 45,000 participants and will be held in New York City's Central Park on Sunday, May 15th, 2011.

As part of its partnership with AWNY, Duane Reade sold special $1 paper red-ribbon pinups in its stores between April 3rd and May 15th.  In order to excite customers about this important initiative, Duane Reade also offered Look Boutique beauty product giveaways, bake sales, and other exciting initiatives to drive additional support.  With the generous support of the New York City community, combined with a donation from the Duane Reade Charitable Foundation, Duane Reade donated $400,000 to AWNY, thereby setting a new fundraising record.

Robin Costa, Senior Director of Human Resources at Duane Reade and President and Director of the Board of The Duane Reade Charitable Foundation, commented, "As the only uniquely New York drug store chain, Duane Reade understands the needs of our city's residents and consistently strives to give back to the community in meaningful ways. AWNY and GMHC provide tremendous value and services to the area. All of us at Duane Reade are proud to partner with them and remain committed to doing all that we can to promote awareness and understanding of HIV/AIDS, a deadly disease that affects more and more of our fellow New York City residents each day.  In our fourth straight year of sponsoring this great event, I am humbled by our record donation and want to thank the generous people of New York City who helped us reach this milestone in the fight against HIV/AIDS."

To celebrate this year's walk, Chuck Newsom, Senior Vice President of Store Operations for Duane Reade, rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, May 10th.

AWNY is one of the largest, most diverse, and highly anticipated annual events in New York City.  Since its inception, the event has raised more than $116 million to fight AIDS in the tri-state area, and the AIDS Walk movement has raised more than a half-billion dollars nationwide. In addition to its monetary donation, Duane Reade is also donating bottled water that will be distributed to participants along the walk route on the day of the race.

To learn more about AIDS Walk New York and its benefactors, please visit www.aidswalk.net/newyork.

To learn more about GMHC, please visit http://www.gmhc.org/.

The Duane Reade Charitable Foundation was formed in March 2007 and is committed to supporting charitable organizations that promote health and wellness in New York's communities. A portion of the charity's budget is also reserved to support programs that address local community needs.

About Duane Reade

Founded in 1960, Duane Reade is the largest drug store chain in New York City. In keeping with Company's brand vision of New York Living Made Easy, Duane Reade provides New Yorkers with prescriptions, health products and services, beauty products and services, food and convenience items for daily life in the City… everything for "How I Feel", "How I Look", and "What I Need Now".  The Company currently operates 250-plus+ stores throughout the metropolitan New York region. Duane Reade and is part of the Walgreens family of companies, the nation's largest drugstore chain with more than 7, 700 stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

SOURCE Duane Reade Holdings, Inc.