During the 2017 Holiday season, Ascena retailer Justice will offer multiple opportunities for customers to give back to Nationwide Children’s Hospital throughout the “Give Hope” campaign, which will begin Nov. 5, 2017. Customers in all U.S. and Canadian locations will have the chance to donate or round-up their purchase at checkout through January 6, 2018, which will benefit The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
“Giving back is a cornerstone of our brand here at Justice,” said Lece Lohr, president of Justice. “We care deeply about positive community involvement, and the Holiday season is a very meaningful time to be a part of something as unique and important as the work done at Nationwide Children’s. We are beyond happy to have them as our partners in sharing a message designed to inspire giving in its greatest sense.”
Helping to launch the philanthropic initiative is tween influencer Mackenzie Ziegler, who appeared on Lifetime’s “Dance Moms” and continues to be a fan favorite with more than 10 million followers combined on Instagram and Musical.ly.
Ziegler visited Nationwide Children’s and spent the day with five energetic tween patients. In a communal room, newly redecorated with donated furniture and décor from the Justice Your Space collection, Ziegler spent time getting to know each patient. Holiday gifts and hand-made cards were also given to all in attendance as a surprise. Ziegler will share her day at Nationwide Children’s via her personal YouTube Channel on Tuesday, Nov. 7. This past summer, Justice teamed up with the 13-year old singer and dancer to launch a new dance-inspired clothing line, The Mackenzie Ziegler for Justice Active collection, with new choices added for this Holiday season.
“We at Nationwide Children’s Hospital could not be more thrilled that Justice has decided to support the hospital during the Holiday season once again,” said Niki Shafer, Senior Vice President, Outreach at Nationwide Children’s. “Mackenzie’s visit certainly left a lasting impression on all the patients who had an opportunity to meet her. We want to thank Mackenzie for bringing smiles and excitement to our patients, especially when they need it the most.”
In further continuation of their support for Nationwide Children’s, a week after Ziegler’s visit, Justice held a fashion show in which the 2017 Patient Champions were styled in the latest holiday fashion and walked the runway for an audience, alongside 60 other tween girls. The fashion show will air on Justice’s YouTube channel November 10th.
The Justice home office team also personally got into the holiday giving spirit by hand making and donating 200 blankets for the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), along with donating 1,100 toys. Additionally, five of Justice’s Girls with Heart Ambassadors came to Columbus during the first week of October and spent a day making holiday cards and gift packages for patients at the hospital. Gift packages included tote bags, slippers, wristlets, t-shirts, notebooks, folders, pencils, and many more items.
The eight-week point-of-sale campaign will begin with an exclusive afterhours event in Justice stores Friday, Nov. 3 (7-9 p.m.) and Sunday, Nov. 5 (6-8 p.m.). In 300 U.S. and
Canadian stores, customers can help support Nationwide Children’s through a fun gift-giving extravaganza that will include a card-signing station for an opportunity to send happy messages to patients. In addition to shopping for themselves, attendees can purchase and donate Justice branded blankets, socks, facemasks and plush animals to hospital patients, and round up their purchase at the register.
Justice customers can also support Nationwide Children’s by purchasing a co-branded flip sequin journal from Dec. 1-31 with 20 percent of the purchase donated to the hospital. All season long, Justice will feature a designated page on their website that will highlight the partnership and the various ways customers can help spread joy and give hope.
This is the second-consecutive year Justice has partnered exclusively with Nationwide Children’s during the Holiday season in an effort to raise funds for The Research Institute. Last year, Justice and its customers raised nearly $1.5 million in more than nine weeks. In four years, Justice has raised over $3 million for The Research Institute.
List of central Ohio participating Justice stores:
Easton Town Center
025 The Strand West, Columbus, OH 43219
Polaris Fashion Place
1500 Polaris Pkwy Suite 2096, Columbus OH 43240
About Justice
Justice, a division of Ascena Retail Group, Inc. (NASDAQ-ASNA), is the largest tween lifestyle specialty retailer in the world. Known as the premier destination for fashion-aware tweens, Justice provides the hottest fashion merchandise and accessories for tween girls, ages 7–14. Justice celebrates tween girls through an extraordinary experience of fashion and fun in an everything-for-her destination. Today, Justice operates over 950 stores throughout the United States and Canada, along with an international presence in Asia, Mexico, Latin America, and the Middle East. Visit shopjustice.com for store information and to shop online.
About Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Report’s 2017-18 list of “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals,” Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of America’s largest not-for-profit freestanding pediatric healthcare systems providing wellness, preventive, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitative care for infants, children and adolescents, as well as adult patients with congenital disease. Nationwide Children’s has a staff of nearly 13,000 providing state-of-the-art pediatric care during more than 1.4 million patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children’s physicians train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the Top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded freestanding pediatric research facilities. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org.
About Mackenzie Ziegler
Listed on Refinery29’s 2017 Z List, Mackenzie Ziegler quickly gained a name for herself in the entertainment world and has become one of her generation’s most influential rising stars. Mackenzie is currently touring the US and Europe on the Day & Night tour alongside Johnny Orlando, and in May 2018 will add being an author to her list of accomplishments where she is set to release her first novel, Kenzie’s Rules for Life: How to be Happy, Healthy, and Dance to Your Own Beat.
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