WALMART And SAM’S CLUB Help Kids Live Better

SALT LAKE CITY (June 22, 2020) – Walmart and Sam’s Club are once again helping raise funds for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Since 1987, this campaign has raised more than $1 billion for CMN Hospitals in the U.S. and Canada.

On June 22, these associates will kick off the 33rd #HelpKidsLiveBetter fundraising campaign for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. This fundraiser gives customers and members several ways to donate at the register or online.

“Sam Walton once told our founders that his associates would amaze us; they certainly have and continue to do so,” said Teri Nestel, interim president and CEO, CMN Hospitals. “The passion these associates have to help kids live better is almost unmatched, and we are grateful for them.”

Children’s hospitals across the United States are dealing with the impacts of COVID-19 in a variety of ways. Donations made at Walmart and Sam’s Club locations this year will be especially useful in helping Children’s Miracle Network member hospitals pay for:

• Charitable care for families struggling to make ends meet
• Life-saving equipment
• Special services such as telemedicine
• Cutting-edge research, including the development of COVID-19 treatment and prevention methods
• Continuing daily operations

“For more than three decades, our Walmart and Sam’s Club associates have amazed me with the heart and passion they put into the annual CMN Hospitals fundraising campaign,” said Glenda Fleming Willis, senior vice president of operations for Walmart. “They have strong connections with their local community hospitals and go above and beyond to help these families who so greatly need our support.”

For many Walmart and Sam’s Club associates, the fundraising they do for CMN Hospitals is personal.

Zach Lones works at Walmart’s home office in Bentonville, AR, but previously spent many years in various stores around in the country. He participated in numerous fundraisers for CMN Hospitals during that time, but earlier this year all this fundraising became more personal for him. His daughter was diagnosed with a life-threatening infection and had to be flown by helicopter to Children’s Hospital of Arkansas. Zach shared his powerful story in a video posted to social media today.

There are a few ways a Walmart customer or Sam’s Club member can donate to their local CMN Hospital. They can donate at any register in the store or club, including at self-checkout kiosks. They can also donate online at www.HelpKidsLiveBetter.org. New this year is the option for Walmart customers to “round up” their purchase to the next dollar and donate the change.

The fundraising campaign starts today and runs through July 19.

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About Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals

Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® raises funds and awareness for 170 member hospitals that provide 32 million treatments each year to kids across the U.S. and Canada. Donations stay local to fund critical treatments and healthcare services, pediatric medical equipment and charitable care. Since 1983, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has raised more than $7 billion, most of it $1 at a time through the charity’s Miracle Balloon icon. Its various fundraising partners and programs support the nonprofit’s mission to save and improve the lives of as many children as possible. Find out why children’s hospitals need community support and identify your member hospital at CMNHospitals.org