ATLANTA, Sept. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Aaron's,
Inc. (NYSE: AAN), a leader in the sales and lease ownership
and specialty retailing of furniture, consumer electronics, home
appliances and accessories, celebrated its first year of sending
100 underserved kids to overnight camp in five states through the
Aaron's "Own Your Summer" Scholarship Program.
"Overnight camps provide such a wonderful and meaningful
experience for kids whose families are able to afford camp, and
we're proud to be able to bring this experience to these young
leaders who wouldn't have this life-changing opportunity without a
scholarship," said Andrea Freeman,
Aaron's Vice President of Marketing. "We set a goal to impact 100
kids by providing them with an experience that would help them
grow, and we were able to send them to five amazing camps that are
shaping our future leaders."
At the overnight camps this summer, the scholarship recipients
were able to try experiences that build character, leadership
skills and confidence. The kids said they were able to participate
in activities completely new to them like horseback riding,
archery, fishing and building campfires. The kids also said
they learned valuable life skills including how not to give up and
how to tear down personal walls so that they could focus on
building friendships.
"At camp, you have to practice a lot of leadership and learning
to take charge of your own responsibilities; that's going to impact
me for a while," said a Camp Grace scholarship recipient.
Overnight camps also create events that help the kids establish
a sense of community. The Camp Grace hosts an annual food
fight where campers get to truly enjoy being a kid and make great
memories while building friendships that last for a lifetime.
Aaron's "Own Your Summer" Camp Scholarship Program was
designed to provide underserved kids with an opportunity to learn
the life lessons of developing confidence, team work and
decision-making skills that happen during overnight summer camp
experiences. In its first year, Aaron's partnered with five camps
in Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North
Carolina and Tennessee to give $50,000 in scholarships to 100 underserved
kids.
The five camps each received $10,000 to send between 10-35 kids to overnight
camp: The Camp Grace (http://thecampgrace.com/), Camp Atwater
(www.campatwater.org), YMCA Camp Harrison (www.campharrison.org),
Girl Scouts Louisiana East Camps (www.gsle.org/camp) and YMCA Camp
Widjiwagan (www.campwidji.org).
To learn more about Aaron's "Own Your Summer" Scholarship
Program, visit www.AaronsGives.com and see Aaron's "Own Your
Summer" Camp Scholarship video here.
About Aaron's, Inc.
Headquartered
in Atlanta, Aaron's, Inc. (NYSE: AAN) is a leader in
the sales and lease ownership and specialty retailing of furniture,
consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories, and
currently has more than 1,940 Company-operated and franchised
stores in 47 states and Canada. Progressive Leasing, a
leading virtual lease-to-own company, provides lease-purchase
solutions through approximately 16,000 retail locations in 46
states. Dent-A-Med, Inc., d/b/a the HELPcard®, provides a
variety of second-look credit products that are originated through
a federally insured bank. Aaron's was founded in
1955, has been publicly traded since 1982 and owns the Aarons.com,
ProgLeasing.com, and HELPcard.com brands. For more information,
visit www.aarons.com.
Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF1IiWZ0g_0
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160901/403692
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160901/403693
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160901/403694
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160901/403695
Logo -
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130826/CL69318LOGO
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/100-kids-experience-aarons-own-your-summer-camp-scholarship-program-300321836.html
SOURCE Aaron's, Inc.