PORT ANGELES — Charity begins at home for Jim’s Pharmacy, a locally owned and operated business that has won a state award for its free programs and scholarships.
The pharmacy at 424 E. Second St. has been named one of two recipients of the statewide 2012 Corporations for Communities Award from state Secretary of State Sam Reed.
Owner Joe Cammack said he was thrilled to learn the state is recognizing the work his pharmacy does to help the Port Angeles community — but added that the real rewards for such efforts are not awards or trophies.
“You don’t do it for the recognition, but it’s nice when you get it,” Cammack said.
The pharmacy is the smaller of two businesses honored this year for their work improving their communities through services such as fundraisers and other charity programs, said Patrick Reed, operations manager for the secretary of state’s Corporations and Charities Division.
Sam Reed (who is no relation to Patrick Reed) will present the National Association of Secretaries of State Medallion Award to Jim’s Pharmacy and Tree Top Inc., a nationwide fruit-process company based in Selah, at a ceremony in his Olympia office at 2 p.m. Dec. 5.
The Secretary of State’s Office picked Jim’s Pharmacy for the small-business award from dozens of customer nominations received this year, Patrick Reed said.
Vitamins, scholarships
The pharmacy’s Free Vitamins for Kids program and the scholarships the pharmacy awards to local high school students especially stood out, he said.
“Being a small business in a relatively small community, they do quite a bit,” Patrick Reed said.
Jim’s Pharmacy started the free vitamins program in 2009, Cammack said, after he got the idea from an association of pharmacies to which he belongs.
More than 3,100 bottles of chewable multivitamins have been distributed free of charge since that time, and Cammack estimates that the pharmacy has served between 600 and 700 children over the past three years.
Families of any financial situation can sign up for the program and get a month’s supply of children’s vitamins once per month for as long as they stay signed up, Cammack said.
“This is truly a no-strings-attached proposition,” he said.
“You come in and get some vitamins for your kids.”
In addition to the free vitamins program, Jim’s Pharmacy also provides free diabetic and heart health programs, hosts various donation drives throughout the year as part of its “Charity of the Month” program and encourages its 34 staff members to participate in local nonprofits.
Learned in late summer
Cammack said he first learned the pharmacy had been nominated anonymously by a customer in late summer when the Secretary of State’s Office called him for additional information on the pharmacy’s charity efforts.
After being nominated for the Corporations for Communities award, Patrick Reed said, each business is asked to fill out a packet of information detailing its community service.
“It gives [the businesses] a chance to tell their story,” he said.
The secretary of state, with the help of staff members, then reviews the nominations and makes a decision, he added.
Cammack said he learned about a week ago that Jim’s Pharmacy — opened by his parents, Jim and Barb Cammack, in 1983 — had won.
Part of community living
Cammack said he thinks helping others is just part of living and working in a relatively small community.
“I thought it was great to be recognized for what I call doing the right thing,” Cammack said.
“We as a community need to help each other out.”
For more information on Jim’s Pharmacy, visit the business’s website at http://bit.ly/TYFSYy or phone 360-452-4200.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
