Belk Announces Over $18.3 Million in Charitable Contributions

CHARLOTTE, NC – February 24, 2012 – Belk, Inc., its associates, customers and vendors contributed over $18.3million to local communities in the fiscal year ending January 28, 2012. Of thetotal amount, Belk corporate dollars funded $5.1 million to over 200 nonprofitorganizations, with a focus on education, breast cancer research and awareness,and community strengthening. The remainder of the funding includes associate,vendor and customer dollars raised in Belk-led charitable initiatives, includingBelk Charity Sale.

“Being a part of our communities and meeting local needs has been anintegral part of the Belk philosophy since our founding in 1888, and itcontinues to be one of our core values today,” said Jessica Graham, Belk vicepresident of communications and community relations. “Belk supported giving lastfiscal year increased 40% over the previous year, which is a clear demonstrationof Belk’s renewed commitment to giving back to our customers, our associates andour neighbors in need.”

Key gifts in fiscal year 2012 included:

• Over $10 million to over 7,800 local charities through Belk’s semi-annualCharity Sale.
• $1 million gift over five years to fund The Belk Boutique at the DukeCancer Center in Durham, N.C., which will provide hats, scarves, cosmetics andmore to cancer patients.
• $1 million to Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, which includes corporate,associate and customer dollars and is the second year payment of a three-yearcommitment to fund breast cancer research and awareness efforts across theBelk footprint.
• Over $800,000, including corporate, associate, vendor and customerdollars, in disaster relief funding to help Tuscaloosa, Ala. and othercommunities in the Southeast rebuild after the April 2011 storms.
• Over $700,000, including corporate and associate dollars, to local UnitedWay chapters across Belk’s 16-state footprint.

Key gifts funded directly by Belk, Inc. included:

• $750,000 to The Belk Foundation to assist in its efforts to ensure allstudents receive a quality public education.
• $350,000 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, $250,000 of whichfunded a grant at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in ChapelHill, N.C.
• $200,000 sponsorship over two years of Major League Baseball’s CivilRights Game in Atlanta, Ga.
• $50,000 to support the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA)Scholarship Fund.

In addition, Belk supported almost a dozen fashion shows to raise money forcharities in local communities, as well as numerous store fundraisingevents.

About Belk, Inc.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Belk, Inc. (www.belk.com)is the nation’s largest privately owned mainline department store company with303 Belk stores located in 16 Southern states.  The company was founded in1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, N.C., and is in the third generation ofBelk family leadership. Its belk.com Web site offers a wide assortment offashion apparel, shoes and accessories for the entire family along with top namecosmetics, a wedding registry and a large selection of quality merchandise forthe home. To connect with Belk via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blog, mobilephone text messages or by email, go to: Belk GetConnected.

Modern. Southern. Style.
Belk seeks to satisfy the modern Southern lifestyle like no one else, so thatour customers get the fashion they desire and the value they deserve.  Ourvision is for the modern Southern woman to count on Belk first – for her, forher family, for life.