Two Millionth Egg Sold for Big Brothers Big Sisters in Rent-A-Center Spring Egg Fundraiser

PHILADELPHIA, April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Rent-A-Center's spring egg fundraiser continues to be golden for Big Brothers Big Sisters as this year's efforts saw the two millionth paper egg sold in their stores since 2003.  The 2010 campaign brought Rent-A-Center's total contribution to over $2 million in support of the country's largest donor-supported volunteer mentoring organization.

"This is a tremendous achievement," said Karen J. Mathis, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters.  "We appreciate Rent-A-Center's continued commitment to our cause, both at a corporate and grass-roots level.  Each dollar raised by this campaign enhances our ability to carefully match our Little Brothers and Sisters with caring adult mentors and provide ongoing match support to these kids, their families and our volunteers."

For eight consecutive springs, Rent-A-Center stores have challenged one another, asking customers to buy $1 colorful paper eggs to support local Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies and matching the donations dollar for dollar with a corporate donation of up to $100,000.  This year more than 3,000 Rent-A-Center stores competed and the company raised $244,203.13 – including the two-millionth $1 egg purchase – bringing the total donation to $2.038 million to support Big Brothers Big Sisters.  Each Big Brothers Big Sisters agency will receive a minimum donation of $250. The organization serves some of the country's most vulnerable children, often those of single, low income and incarcerated parents.

About Rent-A-Center

Rent-A-Center (Nasdaq: RCII), headquartered in Plano, Texas, operates more than 3,000 stores in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada with a focus on home furnishings and financial services.  The company employs approximately 17,720 co-workers.  For more information about Rent-A-Center and its RACommunity programs, visit www.rentacenter.com .

About Big Brothers Big Sisters

For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life.  Most children served by Big Brothers Big Sisters are in single-parent and low-income families or households where a parent is incarcerated.  As the nation's largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers ("Bigs") and children ("Littles").  

Big Brothers Big Sisters provides a system of ongoing evaluation and support, which is proven by independent studies to help families by improving the odds that "Littles" will perform better in school and avoid violence and illegal activities, and have stronger relationships with their parents and others. Headquartered in Philadelphia with a network of nearly 400 agencies across the country, Big Brothers Big Sisters serves more than 255,000 children. Learn how you can positively impact a child's life, donate or volunteer today at BigBrothersBigSisters.org.

SOURCE Big Brothers Big Sisters