China Nepstar Chain Drugstore, one of the largest drugstore chains in China, will join with the Shenzhen Charity Federation to launch a significant charitable initiative to raise awareness of women's health issues among low-income working women residents in Guangdong province.
The company's contributions will include soliciting in-store customer donations and printing and distributing brochures containing health tips for women. The in-store donation period will run from January 18 to March 7, 2008, in over 700 participating China Nepstar outlets in Guangdong.
The slogan for this initiative is "With a penny donated by you, a working- class sister can better know and protect her own health." The company and the Shenzhen Charity Federation will ask customers to donate their small change when they shop at Nepstar's stores. The over 700 Nepstar stores in Guangdong Province are expected to generate more than 3 million transactions during the 50-day period. Donation proceeds are expected to reach RMB80,000 to RMB100,000.
Nepstar will use the proceeds from donations to print 160,000 to 200,000 copies of women's health brochure and distribute them to factories with a concentration of low-income working women in Shenzhen and Guangzhou on March 8, 2008, International Women's Day. The brochure will contain 20 pages of information on the causes, symptoms, treatment and prevention of common female diseases such as vaginitis and chronic cervicitis, as well as information on early warning signs of breast cancer, birth control, female nutrition, and female psychological health.
The company says it has chosen Guangdong province as the launching pad for its charitable initiative for low-income female workers, as it is estimated that the region accounts for 20% of the 50 million female workers in China and has nearly one-third of China Nepstar's 2,002 outlets, as of December 31, 2007. The company plans to roll out similar events in the Yangtze Delta
region and the Bohai Sea Bay region later this year.
Jiannong Qian, CEO of China Nepstar, said in a press release, "China Nepstar has been engaged in philanthropy since its founding and has organized or participated in many charitable events of this nature. As the largest directly operated drugstore chain with a leading position in the Chinese healthcare industry, we strive to help improve the health of all Chinese people. Our retail outlets prosper from the growth of many neighborhood residential communities and we feel it is our responsibility to give back to the communities and build long- term, mutually beneficial relationships with our customers. We will continue to spearhead charitable initiatives and do our part to promote health and caring among as many people as possible."
