Walmart & Sam’s Club National Campaign Crosses $1 Billion in Fundraising Since 1987

Walmart and Sam’s Club associates, customers and members in southern Maine put their money where the miracles are for The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland, Maine during the annual Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals fundraising campaign.

Walmart and Sam’s Club associates, members and customers raised $117,666 for The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital this year, bringing their cumulative fundraising total to over $4 million over the past 30 years.  The effort is part of a national campaign for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals which resulted in $36 million raised in 2018, putting the total raised in the U.S. and Canada since 1987 over the $1 billion mark.

“Research done by Engage for Good shows that the cumulative $1 billion in cash raised for CMN Hospitals over the years by Walmart and Sam’s Club represents the largest amount ever raised for a nonprofit by one company in North America,” said David Hessekiel, president of Engage for Good, a trade group that tracks cross-sector efforts to generate positive social and business impacts.

Donations poured in between August 27 and October 7, as Walmart and Sam’s Club associates at 17 locations in southern Maine held various in-store fundraising activities and asked customers and members at the register to help kids live better. Associates, many of whom have a personal connection to The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital could be found hosting bakes sales and penny wars in the breakroom to complement the fundraising efforts that were taking place at the cash register.

The funds raised by Walmart and Sam’s Club locally are used each year to purchase new equipment and support programs and services that could not be offered otherwise. Angels 1 and 2, the pediatric critical care ambulances utilized by the children’s hospital’s transport team are examples of the state-of-the-art equipment that wouldn’t be available if it weren’t for the partnership with Walmart and Sam’s Club.

“The $1 billion raised by Walmart and Sam’s Club customers, members and associates has changed the world of children’s healthcare,” said John Lauck, president and CEO, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. “Because of their generosit

y, tens of millions of kids across the U.S. and Canada are living better.”