Our brand stands for helpful and I can’t think of anything better than helping sick children and hurricane victims. In addition to the amazing charitable work that Ace retailers perform in their local communities all across the globe, the Ace Foundation is a great opportunity for us to band together to support our two national charitable partners, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMNH) and the American Red Cross.
As we enter a very busy 2018, I thought I would spend three minutes updating you on the amazing work that took place when Ace retailers, Ace vendors and Ace corporate team members work together to support two great causes.
Our partnership with CMNH spans more than 26 years and during that time, you have helped us raise more than $93 million dollars that has gone straight to local hospitals all across the country. Money raised local, stays local!
During 2017, working together we raised a record $11 million. This money is used in a number of different ways – here are a few that all of us should be proud of:
- Approximately half of our donations help families that do not have the ability to pay for healthcare. Fifty percent of kids in the US don’t have adequate health care coverage. No child will ever be turned away from a CMNH hospital and we are helping to make sure that never happens.
- Approximately 25% of our donations help pay for life-saving equipment needed for children.
- The rest of the money we raise goes toward funding research, educating families on healthy and safe living and towards child-life areas of the hospitals. Cancer is 2nd leading cause of death for children and CMNH is pushing hard to drive more research on this topic. On any given day, more than 2,500 kids are being treated for cancer. Injury is the #1 leading cause of childhood death in the United States. CMNH Hospitals treat 16,000 children with trauma every day.
So how’d we do it? Here’s some fun fundraising facts:
- In the past two years, Ace stores have sold over 2.03 million World’s Finest Chocolate bars – equaling over $976,000 donated to CMN Hospitals
- In 2017, customers rounded up over 5 million times at the register – raising over $2.7 million, pennies at a time
- Over past five years, the Ace “Miracle Bucket” promotion has raised over $2.7 million
- 3,515 stores made a donation to their local CMN Hospital in 2017 (up from 3,410 in 2016)
Congratulations and thanks for making such a difference in the lives of so many kids and families across the country.
The Ace family also jumped at the chance to help Hurricane victims in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico during 2017. The number of calls and emails that poured in from retailers and corporate team members asking what they could do to help, willing to do just about anything, reminds us why Ace is such a great place.
Retailers all across the country turned on change Round-Up to help hurricane victims through the American Red Cross. In a very short period of time, more than $850,000 was raised. In addition to these monies, approximately $500,000 of tarps and buckets were donated to help with the cleanup efforts in Texas and Florida.
As we delve into 2018, know that you, your vendors and your corporate team came together and helped two great causes. Muhammad Ali once said, “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”
I believe it’s safe to say that you covered a lot of rent in 2017.
Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Kane Calamari
Senior Vice President – Human Resources, Org. Development & Communications
President, Ace Foundation
