J.C. Penney fund's 20,000 grants help kids

— -- The retailer contributed more than $70 million since 1999 to programs run by YMCAs, Boys and Girls Clubs, 4-H Clubs and United Way-funded agencies. In addition, Penney sometimes raises money for the after-school fund by asking customers whether they'd be willing to round their purchases up to the next dollar. On Dec. 5-14, Penney raised a record $1.5 million in the fourth such "Round Up."

"Most of our customers are either dual-income families or single parents," says Mike Theilmann, chief human resources officer for Penney and head of the after-school fund. "Their big concern is: 'What's going on with my kids when they're not at school?' "

Scott Peeples, who runs the Horizons program for the YMCA, says even parents who don't work often aren't able to help kids with schoolwork: "Parents may be home but can't give help with homework because they don't speak English or don't have the education skills themselves."

Jason Leonard and Christine Scheffler's four children are among the beneficiaries of Penney's grants. "We both do have to work, and we do have to pay bills, so if they weren't going here, they'd be going home to an empty house or someplace where we'd feel less safe," says Scheffler, who works as a secretary in a hospital. Her husband is a roofer.

The children — twin boys, 11, and girls who are 6 and 8 — use the computers at the YMCA-run center to do homework with the help of student aides, play educational games and get involved in charity work of their own in the community.