CVS Caremark announces winner of 'All Kids Can' contest

WOONSOCKET, R.I. CVS Caremark has announced a winner of its "Arthur/All Kids Can Character Search."

In February 2009, "Arthur," the award-winning PBS KIDS GO! television series, and CVS Caremark All Kids Can, a program dedicated to making life easier for kids with disabilities, invited children ages 6 to 12 to create a new friend for Arthur. The search was designed to educate children about the importance of inclusion and how children of all abilities can play together. It also encouraged parents and children to think about what life is like for someone they know who has a disability.

Connor Gordon of Savage, Minn., was selected as the grand-prize winner and will be featured on the live-action segment of an "Arthur" episode Tuesday, June 30, on PBS KIDS GO! (check local listings). The segment features Gordon, 11, an aspiring artist, meeting "Arthur" creator and author Marc Brown.

In addition to the grand-prize winner, the panel also selected nine finalists who received prize packages including CVS gift cards and "Arthur" merchandise. CVS Caremark also made a grant of $1,000 to each child's school for library or arts programs.

"This segment is a wonderful conclusion to a successful effort in championing the concept of inclusion," said Eileen Howard Dunn, SVP corporate communications and community relations at CVS Caremark. "We're so proud of Connor's entry [and] are thrilled that his story and his character, Lydia Fox, is going to be shared with the PBS KIDS GO! audience. It is our hope that the segment will extend the impact of the Character Search by helping more parents and children to think not only about what life is like for someone with a disability, but also about characteristics in each of us that make us unique."

Funding for the "Arthur/All Kids Can Character Search" is provided by CVS Caremark.

For more information about the "Arthur/All Kids Can Character Search," please visit www.pbskidsgo.org/arthur/allkidscan