Big Lots’ “Give Big for Kids” Campaign Tops $3 Million for Nationwide Children’s Hospital

November 13, 2019  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry   

The campaign raised a total of $3.05 million in more than 1,400 stores that employ over 35,000 Big Lots associates. Over the past four years, the dedicated Big Lots team has raised nearly $23 million through point-of-sale operations. One-hundred percent of the donations from Big Lots customers will help fund lifesaving research and care at Nationwide Children's.

"We have been so proud to continue our partnership with Nationwide Children's Hospital and the lifesaving work they do," said Bruce Thorn, president and CEO of Big Lots. "With each in-store campaign, our compassionate customers and enthusiastic store teams continue to support our mission of helping kids everywhere. They are the BIG difference for a better life."

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. The Pavilion will open in March 2020, and the freestanding facility will be 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 families all over the country that we serve, I thank Big Lots and their dedicated associates and customers for helping us care for every child, for every reason," said Steve Testa, president, Nationwide Children's Hospital Foundation. "Through their vision, leadership, and generosity, Big Lots is positively impacting pediatric healthcare everywhere."