Give a Dollar. Share a Dream celebrates 10 years of support for Special
Olympics Canada

With STAPLES, it's easy to donate to SOC - in store, and new this year at ShareADream.ca

TORONTO , Nov. 4 /CNW/ - Today celebrates the launch of the "Give a Dollar. Share a Dream" campaign. Between November 4 and 17, Canadians are encouraged to support Special Olympics athletes by making a donation with every in-store purchase at any of the 300 STAPLES stores in Canada . Giving is even easier this year as donations are now possible online at www.shareadream.ca, a new feature for the campaign.

Special Olympics Canada and STAPLES Canada have a 10 year partnership in "Give a Dollar. Share a Dream." This year's fundraising goal is $500,000 and since its inception, STAPLES corporate donations plus customer donations have contributed over $4 million and is the single largest corporate fundraising campaign for Special Olympics Canada . Throughout the 13-day campaign, STAPLES stores across Canada are also holding fun events for associates and customers to raise funds for local SOC chapters.

"STAPLES Canada is honoured to be a part of the Special Olympics Canada family," says Steve Matyas , president, STAPLES Canada . "We are proud of our long term partnership - we don't do this because we're expected to but rather because the importance of giving back is ingrained in who we are."

Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2009, Special Olympics Canada is dedicated to enriching the lives of Canadians with an intellectual disability through sport. A national not-for-profit organization with more than 14,000 volunteers and coaches, it provides sport training and competition opportunities to over 32,000 athletes of all ages and abilities across Canada , building more inclusive communities across the country. Special Olympics Canada believes that sport enriches lives, and with every victory in sport, people with intellectual disabilities gain the confidence to fully participate in their communities, which includes employment opportunities. Special Olympics athlete Christina Campbell is the ambassador of this year's "Give a Dollar. Share a Dream" campaign. Christina, a Special Olympics World Games gold and silver medalist in rhythmic gymnastics, lives in Ottawa and works at a local STAPLES store.

"STAPLES Canada , its associates and customers have been tremendous fans of Special Olympics Canada over the years," says Deborah Bright , president and CEO of Special Olympics Canada . "We can offer quality sport programs to enrich the lives of Canadians with an intellectual disability because of the tremendous support through the Give a Dollar. Share a Dream campaign."

Special Olympics Canada wants to be able to help as many people as possible reach their dreams through sport, as there are more than 800,000 Canadians with an intellectual disability. This year, join the Special Olympics movement and help make more dreams come true.

About Special Olympics Canada

Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2009, Special Olympics Canada is dedicated to enriching the lives of Canadians with an intellectual disability through sport. It is a national not-for-profit organization that provides training and competition opportunities to more than 32,000 athletes of all ages and abilities through local sport clubs and benefits from an extensive network of 14,600 volunteers, including 10,000 trained coaches. For more information about Special Olympics Canada , visit www.specialolympics.ca or call the toll-free number 1.888.888.0608.

About STAPLES Canada

Founded in Toronto in 1991, The Business Depot Ltd./STAPLES Canada Inc. is Canada's largest supplier of office supplies, business machines, office furniture and business services for the small business and home office customer. The company is an everyday low price retailer. The chain operates stores in all provinces across Canada under the banners STAPLES Canada and Bureau en Gros(MC). Marketing Magazine's Marketing/Leger 2008 Corporate Reputation Survey ranked STAPLES Canada/Bureau en Gros number one among Canada's top 100 companies surveyed in Canada . The company has over 13,500 employees serving customers through more than 300 office superstores, catalogue, and e-commerce. STAPLES, STAPLES(r) /Bureau en Gros (MC) is committed to making shopping easy by offering customers three ways to shop: online, by catalogue and in-store. More information is available at www.staples.ca.

/NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited members of the media/

For further information: For media and event related questions, please contact: Alessandra Saccal, Rachel Swiednicki, STAPLES Canada, [phone] x 2363, [phone] x 2714, [email protected], [email protected]; Susana Petti, Director, Marketing and Public Relations, Special Olympics Canada, [phone] x 237, [email protected]