Step Up For Students Receives $2 Million Donation to Fund Scholarships for Low-Income Students
Temple Terrace, Fla (PRWEB) September 23, 2015 -- Circle K, part of Alimentation Couche-Tard, and one of North America’s most popular and successful operators of convenience stores, announced today it is donating $2 million to Step Up For Students, providing educational options to hundreds of low-income Florida schoolchildren.
This is Circle K’s first donation to the nonprofit organization that helps administers the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, which is funded by corporations with tax obligations to the state in exchange for dollar-for-dollar tax credits. Circle K’s donation will fund about 350 K-12 scholarships, so financially disadvantaged children can attend the school that best meets their learning needs.
“Circle K is thrilled to help hundreds of Florida students through our participation in this program,” said David Morgan, Vice President of Circle K’s Florida Division. “Through our support, more Florida children will find success in their educational experience. Our company is committed to being a good corporate citizen by improving the quality of life in the communities we serve through a host of local charities and organizations. It is through these relationships that we can help people, encourage families and children and support the communities in which we do business.”
Step Up For Students has awarded nearly 78,000 scholarships to low-income students for the 2015-16 school year, with tuition scholarships valued up to $5,677 per student. More than 1,600 private schools participate in the scholarship program statewide. Scholars may choose a $500 scholarship to offset the cost of transportation to an out-of-county public school.
“Each year, Step Up For Students is able to provide more scholarships for Florida children, which for most of our families, means hope for their children’s future,” said Doug Tuthill, Step Up For Students president. “Without help from our partners like Circle K, the growth of the program would not be possible.”
About Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.
Couche-Tard is the leader in the Canadian convenience store industry. In the United States, it is the largest independent convenience store operator in terms of number of company-operated stores. In Europe, Couche-Tard is a leader in convenience store and road transportation fuel in Scandinavian countries and in the Baltic States while it has a growing presence in Poland.
As of April 26, 2015, Couche-Tard's network comprised 7,848 convenience stores throughout North America, including 6,404 stores with road transportation fuel dispensing. Its North American network consists of 14 business units, including ten in the United States covering 41 states and the District of Columbia and four in Canada covering all ten provinces. About 80,000 people are employed throughout its network and at the service offices in North America.
In Europe, Couche-Tard operates a broad retail network across Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Denmark), Poland, the Baltics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) and Russia, which comprised 2,230 stores as at April 26, 2015, the majority of which offer road transportation fuel and convenience products while the others are unmanned automated service-stations which offer road transportation fuel only. The Corporation also offers other products, including stationary energy, marine fuel, lubricants and chemicals. Couche-Tard operates key fuel terminals and fuel depots in six countries. Including employees at Statoil branded franchise stations, about 19,000 people work in its retail network, terminals and service offices across Europe.
In addition, under licensing agreements, about 4,700 stores are operated under the Circle K banner in 12 other countries worldwide (China, Guam, Honduras, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam) which brings to more than 14,700 the number of sites in Couche-Tard's network.
For more information on Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., please visit: http://corpo.couche-tard.com.
About Step Up For Students
Step Up For Students is a nonprofit organization responsible for helping administer the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program. The scholarship program is available to students who qualify for free- or reduced-price lunch, children who are in foster care or children who are homeless. It provides tuition assistance to the private school of their parents’ choice or transportation help to an out-of-district public school. Scholarships are funded by corporate tax-credited donations.
Step Up For Students also helps administer state-funded Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts (PLSA) for Florida students with certain special needs. With the PLSA’s, recipients may use the funds for a variety of approved services including private tutoring, occupational therapy, instructional materials and other services.
For more information, visit: http://www.StepUpForStudents.org.
Paul Soost, Step Up For Students, http://www.StepUpForStudents.org, +1 (727) 451-9828, [email protected]
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