Thank You, Big Lots, for Giving Big for children's mental health!
Thank you Big Lots, and your dedicated customer and associates, for your point-of-sale fundraising campaign benefitting On Our Sleeves and Nationwide Children's Hospital. The campaign included Big Lots stores across 47 states and raised millions of dollars on behalf of the movement for children's mental health. In the past five years, Big Lots has raised more than $28 million in support of On Our Sleeves and Nationwide Children's.
"Big Lots and their customers from all over the country continue to demonstrate their kindness following another successful campaign," said Steve Testa, President, Nationwide Children's Hospital Foundation. "This generosity will impact all the patients and families who will walk through Nationwide Children's Hospital's doors for years to come."
Together with Big Lots and the Big Lots Foundation, Nationwide Children's is taking a stand to advance the treatment, research, and care associated with pediatric Behavioral Health. For too long this patient population has gone undiagnosed and underserved. Through Big Lots’ transformational partnership, the Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion opened in 2020. It is America’s largest center dedicated exclusively to child and adolescent behavioral and mental health on a pediatric medical campus.
In addition to being a distinguished corporate sponsor, Big Lots associates are generous with their time. Since 2013, volunteers from the Big Lots corporate office in Columbus have visited the hospital’s Family Resource Center twice a month to deliver a variety of books and healthy snacks to patient families. Furthermore, Big Lots is a sponsor of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon & ½ Marathon Encore Mile. Each mile along the marathon route is represented by a hospital patient champion and the Encore Mile welcomes past marathon Patient Champions to help cheer on race participants.
Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion
In recognition of the transformational $50 million gift from Big Lots and the Big Lots Foundation, Nationwide Children’s Hospital named the new behavioral health treatment and research center in their name. When it is completed in 2020, this pavilion will be the largest research and treatment facility, on a pediatric campus, in the country.
In March of 2020, the Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion opened its doors. Featuring inpatient services, intensive outpatient services, a Psychiatric Crisis Department and research all under one roof, this integrated pediatric behavioral health approach serves as a model for other health care systems across the nation. Go on a behind the scenes tour of this state-of-the-art building, in the video above.
Thank you Big Lots for a BIG move to create a brighter future for our next generation!
As Seen on the TODAY Show
The Big Lots Behavioral Health pavilion was featured on the Mind Matters series on TODAY. Watch How one hospital is making a difference for kids with mental health issues.
Meet the 2024 Big Lots Behavioral Health Scholarship Recipient Samuel Yu
Samuel (Sam) Yu is the proud recipient of the 2024 Big Lots Behavioral Health Scholarship and is a master’s student in the Couple and Family Therapy (CFT) program in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at The Ohio State University. Sam has served as a Research Assistant on two projects at Ohio State and these research and clinical experiences demonstrate his commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Sam’s mentors and professors offered strong recommendations that noted his exceptional academic performance, relevant volunteer and research experiences, and commitment to providing evidence-based clinical interventions to children and families.
“Sam’s research and clinical experience will contribute substantially to improving the health and well-being of children and families, particularly pediatric behavioral and mental health populations.” says Ashley Landers, Associate Professor, Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University.
Through graduate coursework and research experience, Sam has a growing knowledge of study design skills related to recruitment and retention, data collection, data analysis, writing for publication, and dissemination.
From growing up in a low-income, immigrant household, and moving around frequently, Sam has developed a strong commitment to perseverance and has demonstrated the ability to overcome many challenges, not only in his personal life but also in his career.
Give Big with Big Lots
Your gift supports life-saving pediatric behavioral health research.
