Walmart and Sam’s Club Kick Off Campaign for Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital
The greater Baton Rouge area Walmart and Sam’s Club stores united at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital to celebrate the start of their Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals fundraising campaign. Between August 28 and October 1, Walmart and Sam’s Club invite all of their customers to join in support by making a donation to help build the new freestanding Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital.
See drone footage of the children’s hospital construction taken August 15, 2017 below.
Walmart and Sam’s Club are celebrating 30 years of their partnership with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Over the last 30 years, Walmart has raised nearly $1 billion for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals across the United States and Canada.
At the kickoff, the Walmart and Sam’s Club representatives enjoyed a presentation from Children’s Hospital leaders, including Dr. Shaun Kemmerly, Chief Medical Officer, who shared an update on the construction progress and the importance of Our Lady of the Lake’s Pediatric Residency program for physicians, and Kelly Hurtado, Executive Director of Our Lady of the Lake Foundation, who explained how valuable the Walmart and Sam’s Club partnership is to providing lifesaving care for kids, even during times of adversity, like last August’s great flood in Baton Rouge, which impacted hundreds of thousands of residents in the area.
Walmart associates also received a virtual tour of the children’s hospital led by Madisyn Duet, a 10-year-old pediatric patient who first came to Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital by helicopter via the Our Lady of the Lake Pediatric Transport Team and spent 2 weeks in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Madisyn’s mom, Lindsay Cavalier says that were it not for the amazing team at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, Madisyn would not be here today.
James Winchester, Regional General Manager for Walmart Region 13 inspired his team with a personal story about what children’s hospitals have meant to his family.
“There is no greater cause that we could support than our children’s hospitals. Let’s do everything we can to raise as much as we can for these kids!” Winchester exclaimed.
Several Walmart and Sam’s Club vendor partners also joined in the festivities of the day. Louisiana Drug Card, a prescription savings card company that partners with Walmart and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals sponsored the breakfast. United Networks of America, the parent company for Louisiana Drug Card, makes a donation to Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital every time the Louisiana Drug Card is used at Walmart, Sam’s Club, and other participating pharmacies in the Baton Rouge area. Learn more about Louisiana Drug Card’s partnership here and download your free card today.
Coca Cola Bottling Company United, the regional distributor for the Coca Cola Company will contribute a portion of the sales of specially marked Coca Cola distributed products to help the kids at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals on behalf of the Walmart stores. Read more about Coca Cola’s support of Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital here.
Red Bull, locally distributed by Crescent Crown, also contributes a portion of sales of its specially marked products at Walmart and is proud to support Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals nationally, and locally the building of the new Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital.
Representatives from the Dance Marathon at LSU organization were also on hand to thank Walmart and Sam’s Club for their support. Walmart and Sam’s Club have provided Dance Marathon at LSU the opportunity to fundraise for Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital in front of stores over the last few years. In addition to funds raised during Walmart and Sam’s Club’s campaign, Walmart and Sam’s Club helped Dance Marathon collect more than $50,000 in donations to help kids at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital. Learn more about Dance Marathon at LSU here.
Every donation matters and adds up to make miracles for kids across the Baton Rouge area. You can donate at any of the 30 local Walmart Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, and Sam’s Clubs between August 28 and October 1. All proceeds from the campaign will be designated to help build the new freestanding Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, located between Essen Lane and Bluebonnet Blvd, visible from Interstate-10 in Baton Rouge, LA.
