Empire, Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations kick off Family of Support fundraiser
Who: Empire Company Ltd.
What: Empire Company Ltd. and the Sobey Foundation are once again supporting Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations via their Family of Support: Child and Youth Mental Health Initiative.
The annual fundraising campaign – which began in 2020 – runs across Empire retail locations from Sept. 14 through Oct. 1, and on Sep. 7 in Quebec.
Canadians who choose to donate can do so at the check-stand of their local Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, FreshCo, Chalo! FreshCo, Foodland, Thrifty Foods, Farm Boy, Foodland & participating CO-OPs, Lawtons Drugs, Needs, Pete's Frootique and Fine Foods, Rachelle Béry, BoniSoir, and Voisin. In addition, shoppers can double their impact by visiting their local store on Sept. 23-24, when Empire will match customer donations by up to $200,000.
One hundred per cent of funds raised will go toward supporting child and youth mental health early intervention and prevention programs at local Children’s Hospitals.
The partnership has surpassed its three-year goal by $3 million, raising and donating a total of $12 million in funding support.
The goal of the initiative was to enhance and improve capacity for mental health programming at 13 children's hospitals. Funding from Family of Support has resulted in the completion of more than 38,500 assessments, 49 new mental health treatment spaces opened across the country and 75,974 patients served.
"Empire's continued commitment to the initiative of Nourishing Healthy Bodies and Nurturing Healthy Minds helps ensure families across Canada are getting the mental and physical support they need," said Sandra Sanderson, chief marketing officer, Empire Company Ltd., in a statement. "We are immensely grateful to our store teams and our generous customers who continue to champion this cause in our local communities. Together, we are helping more kids access mental health support early, positively impacting the future of mental health support in Canada."
