Presented by Walmart Canada, fundraising campaign surpasses $3-million target
MONTREAL, March 27, 2014 /CNW/ - The Breakfast Club of Canada, in partnership with Walmart Canada, today announced the Help Them Shine Campaign has raised $3.4 million dollars, making this the biggest fundraising campaign in the organization's history.
Between February 13 and March 7, Canadians were invited to give to HelpThemShine.ca, either online or in-store by purchasing a bookmark for $1. In addition to the more than $2.5 million raised in-store and online, Walmart Canada donated $776,000 to support school breakfast programs across Canada. Charitable promotions from Kraft and General Mills generated an additional $100,000. The funds received will be used to start up new school breakfast programs and continue to offer wholesome, balanced morning meals to thousands of students across Canada.
"Walmart Canada remains committed to helping families in need. We are proud to partner with Breakfast Club of Canada to help them deliver school breakfast programs to more than 1,200 schools across the country," said John Lawrence, director of corporate social responsibility for Walmart Canada. "This year's record-breaking campaign shows just how much our associates, customers and vendors understand the important role a good breakfast plays in helping kids learn."
"We are extremely grateful to the administration and staff of Walmart Canada. Their unflagging support is what made this campaign possible and, even more important, helped us make tremendous strides in terms of our new peer-to-peer solicitation platform," said Daniel Germain, President and Founder, Breakfast Club of Canada. "Their endorsement of the Make Them Shine campaign has been instrumental in making this our biggest fundraising campaign ever."
Blazing new trails
In addition to the country-wide cash register campaign, Walmart Canada provided support for the setup of a new online donation platform to help the Club to make the most of the latest social media technologies. Canadians took to Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Instagram and YouTube to spread the word and encourage others to give. The introduction of a peer-to-peer campaign was a source of additional momentum, enabling the Club to make a giant leap forward and allow its many partners to leverage their own social media platforms to get the message out.
Since teaming up with the Breakfast Club of Canada 14 years ago, Walmart Canada has raised and donated more than $30 million to this very worthy cause.
About Walmart Canada
Walmart Canada operates a growing chain of 389 stores nationwide, including 247 supercentres, serving more than 1.2 million customers each day. In addition, Walmart Canada's flagship online store, walmart.ca, is visited by 300,000 customers daily. With more than 95,000 associates, Walmart Canada is one of Canada's largest employers and is ranked one of Canada's top 10 most influential brands. Walmart Canada's extensive philanthropy program is focused on helping Canadian families in need, and since 1994 Walmart has donated and raised more than $200 million to Canadian charities. Additional company information can be found at walmartcanada.ca, facebook.com/walmartcanada and at twitter.com/@walmartcanada.
About the Breakfast Club of Canada
The Breakfast Club of Canada is a non-profit organization that provides funding, equipment, food, training and services to school breakfast programs across Canada. We are dedicated to making sure that students start their day with a wholesome meal in a stimulating environment. Our goal is to provide adequate learning conditions for all children.
SOURCE: Breakfast Club of Canada
Diane Fabi, National Communications Director, Breakfast Club of Canada, [email protected], 450-641-3230, ext. 3320; Rosalyn Carneiro, Public Relations Manager, Walmart Canada, [email protected], 905-821-2111, ext. 74240
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