October 18, 2023
Page 9
Jeans for Teens!
Drug Store Dealing with
Lawsuits and Losses
Rite Aid, a major U.S. pharmacy chain, said Sunday, Oct. 15, that it has filed for
bankruptcy as part of its effort to restructure its finances. (AP Photo/Gene J.
Puskar, File)
Rite Aid seeks
Chapter 11
bankruptcy
protection
Cameron Davis, a 17-year-old high school senior, started ‘Jeans for Teens.’
Helping the
Homeless
Community
Cameron Davis is a 17-year-old high
school senior. She is an honor student at
Brentwood School and has committed her
time to helping the unhoused community
in the city.
“I’ve been volunteering to help feed
the unhoused community since I was very
young,” Cameron tells us. “When I was 9
years old, I was crowned Little Miss Cali-
fornia and I chose poverty alleviation as my
community service platform. Los Angeles
has one of the largest homeless populations
in the United States and it is impossible to
ignore this humanitarian crisis.”
Cameron first started volunteering with
My Friends Place serving food on Skid
Row. Throughout the years as well as
during the pandemic she has also created
meals and hygiene kits for the Hollywood
Food Coalition and Midnight Mission. All
her many hours of dedication and volun-
teer work have earned her the Gold Pres-
ident’s Volunteer Service Award. Growing
up in a single-parent household she learned
to cook and enjoys sharing her meals with
those in need. Her favorite recipes are of-
ten the ones she finds on TikTok.
During her time working with different
organizations, she discovered that there
were other ways that she could give back.
Jeans were often listed as an item that was
in need since they are durable, unisex, and
can be worn in all seasons. “Every fall
my friends have the privilege to go Back
to School shopping with their parents for
brand new clothes. I wanted to help teen-
agers experiencing homelessness feel less
stigmatized at school.” Her nonprofit Jeans
for Teens collects new and lightly used
denim jeans for homeless youth in the Los
Angeles area.
She has collected hundreds of pairs of
jeans since starting Jeans for Teens three
years ago and she gets more donations ev-
ery year.“Now that I have my driver’s li-
cense, I can get to more community fridg-
es,” he comments. Cameron also donates
bottled water and Gatorade to the various
community fridges around town. Commu-
nity fridges are refrigerators, run by a small
business or neighborhood. Volunteers work
to keep them stocked with snacks, drinks,
and individually packaged fruits and veg-
etables. And it’s all free for anyone in the
community to enjoy.
“This helps tremendously during ex-
treme heat waves and helps keep unhoused
individuals hydrated and prevents them
from getting heat stroke.” “Some people
cast judgment and view the homeless as
lazy or as a nuisance. But it’s extremely
important for people to understand that
homelessness is a complex issue with mul-
tiple causes including mental health, lack
of affordable housing, substance abuse, do-
mestic violence, and more.” Cameron says,
“I know that I alone am unable to solve this
issue. But I believe that housing is a human
right and if each of us does one small thing
we can, at the very least make a difference
in a person’s mindset and give them the
faith to carry on until they ultimately find a
place, they can call home.”
AP- Rite Aid has filed for bankrupt-
cy protection and plans to sell part of
its business as it attempts to restructure
while dealing with losses and opioid-re-
lated lawsuits. The company said Rite
Aid stores will continue to fill prescrip-
tions, and customers will still be able to
visit its locations or shop online while it
goes through its voluntary Chapter 11
process. But that process also will allow
it to speed up its plan to close underper-
forming stores.
Going through Chapter 11 will help
“significantly reduce the company’s
debt” while helping to “resolve litiga-
tion claims in an equitable manner,” Rite
Aid late Sunday. Rite Aid Corp. said in
its federal bankruptcy filing that it runs
more than 2,000 stores. Most of its lo-
cations are on the East and West Coasts.
The company, like its rivals, also faces
financial risk from lawsuits over opi-
oid prescriptions. Rite Aid already has
reached several settlements, including
one announced last year with the state of
West Virginia for up to $30 million.
In March, the U.S. Justice Department
intervened in a whistleblower lawsuit
brought by former employees under the
False Claims Act. Federal officials said
in a statement that the drugstore chain
filled “at least hundreds of thousands” of
illegal prescriptions for drugs including
opioids. Rite Aid called the government’s
claims “hyperbolic” in a subsequent mo-
tion to dismiss. The company said facts
alleged in the case actually showed it
exceeded regulatory requirements for di-
version control.
Drugstores also have been dealing
with several issues that frustrate custom-
ers. They’ve handled prescription drug
shortages, and they have struggled to fill
their stores with enough pharmacists and
technicians to run the pharmacies. Rivals
CVS and Walgreens both have dealt with
walkouts by pharmacy employees con-
cerned about their growing workloads
and lack of help. The stores also have had
to weather tight prescription reimburse-
ment and waning COVID-19 vaccine
and testing business in recent quarters.
Plus online competitors like the retail gi-
ant Amazon have hurt sales sales of con-
sumer goods found outside the pharmacy
areas of their stores. Rite Aid’s larger
competitors like CVS and Walgreens,
which each run several thousand more
locations, have moved more aggressively
into health care, opening clinics and add-
ing other sources of revenue.
Rite Aid said Sunday that it had
reached an agreement with some key
creditors on a financial restructuring plan
to cut its debt. The company also said it
obtained $3.45 billion in fresh financing
from some of its lenders, which will help
support the company through the Chap-
ter 11 process. Rite Aid says it does not
know yet which stores it will close, but
it will transfer workers to other Rite Aid
locations where possible.
Congrats Ronald D. Herndon
Longtime Activist
and Early Childhood
Leader Receives
Alexander Award
Ron Herndon served as President and
Board Chair of the National Head Start
Association (NHSA) from 1991 to
2013, and provided leadership and sup-
port to Head Start programs across the
nation including advocating for over
900,000 low-income and families.