COLUMBUS, Ohio - Big Lots announced today the launch of its spring point-of-sale campaign, “Serve Families. Give Big.” that will benefit Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Now through April 21st, Big Lots customers can donate $1, $2, $5 or more at checkout. One hundred percent of the dollars raised supports lifesaving research and care at the hospital.
Last fall, Big Lots completed its sixth point-of-sale fundraising campaign on behalf of the hospital in all 1,416 Big Lots stores and more than 35,000 associates helped collect over $3.2 million in customer donations. In all, Big Lots and their customers have raised more than $17 million for Nationwide Children’s through the Give Big Campaign.
“Our relationship with Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the life-saving work they do every day is grounded in our dedication to kids everywhere and their physical, mental and emotional health. In just four short years, our customers and our stores teams have raised over $17 million dollars and we look forward to another successful campaign to support our partners at Nationwide Children’s." stated Tim Johnson, Executive Vice President Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer.
In 2016, Big Lots and the Big Lots Foundation joined Nationwide Children’s in addressing childhood behavioral health and mental illness when they announced a $50 million transformational gift to the hospital to construct the Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Scheduled to open in early 2020, the Pavilion will be a freestanding facility fully dedicated to children and adolescents with behavioral health conditions. It will be the largest behavioral health treatment and research center dedicated to children and adolescents on a pediatric medical campus in the U.S.
“On behalf of the patients, families and staff at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, we express our sincere gratitude to Big Lots, the Big Lots Foundation and their many associates who rally to support our vision of creating best outcomes for children everywhere,” said Steve Testa, president, Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation. “Our hope is that the work our incredible staff of clinicians and scientists are doing in the behavioral health space will impact children throughout the country.”
Additionally, for the past two years, the Big Lots Foundation has supported the hospital’s Butterfly Run, a family fitness event that takes place at various locations throughout the country. The goal of the Butterfly Run is to grow awareness, break stigmas and raise funds for lifesaving pediatric behavioral health research and care.
To learn more about the “Serve Families. Give Big.” campaign or to make a donation online, visit biglots.com/give4kids.
About Big Lots, Inc.
Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) is a community retailer operating more than 1,400 BIG LOTS stores in 47 states, dedicated to friendly service, trustworthy value, and affordable solutions in every season and category – furniture, food, décor, and more. We exist to serve everyone like family, providing a better shopping experience for our customers, valuing and developing our associates, and creating growth for our shareholders. Big Lots supports the communities it serves through the Big Lots Foundation, a charitable organization focused on four areas of need: hunger, housing, healthcare, and education. For more information about the Company, visit www.biglots.com.
About Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Report’s 2018-19 list of “Best Children’s Hospitals,” Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of America’s largest not-for-profit freestanding pediatric health care 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 more than 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 Abigail Wexner 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.