Petland Stores Raise $130,000 for St. Jude

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The numbers are in! Petland stores nationwide raised more than $130,000 during the 2016 St. Jude Halloween Pin-Up Promotion benefiting St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, which is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

“This year, our franchisees set a goal to reach $100,000 in donations,” Petland’s Director of Public Affairs Elizabeth Kunzelman said. “We have an amazing group of franchisees with very big hearts, who truly understand the difference even one dollar can make. Many of them made personal donations.”

Several franchisees and store operators have visited the hospital and the St. Jude Target House, one of the three housing facilities where families live during treatment. These franchisees have proven to be leaders in pushing everyone at Petland to raise more money, Kunzelman said.

Petland first partnered with St. Jude in 2009. The St. Jude Halloween Pin-Up Promotion, now in its 26^th year, asks customers to donate $1 or more at the register during the month of October to support the hospital’s lifesaving mission of finding cures and saving children. In exchange for the donation, customers sign a St. Jude Halloween-themed pin-up which is displayed in the store. Petland also initiated a corporate campaign for the home office, offering payroll deductions for donations.

Treatments invented at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to more than 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. Because of fundraisers like the St. Jude Halloween Promotion, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food because St. Jude