Petland Stores Raise $93,000 for St. Jude

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio, April 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The numbers are in! Petland stores nationwide raised more than $93,000 for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital^® during the October 2014 St. Jude Pumpkin Pin-Up Campaign.

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This year's donations signify a 71 percent increase over funds raised in 2013 by Petland stores.

"This year, our franchisees set a goal to raise $83,334, enough to support the operations of the hospital for one hour of one day," said Petland's Director of Communications Elizabeth Kunzelman. "We have an amazing group of franchisees with very big hearts, who truly understand the difference even one dollar can make."

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

Petland became a St. Jude corporate partner in 2009. The St. Jude Halloween campaign, now in its 23^rd year, asks customers to donate $1 or more at the register. In exchange for the donation, customers sign a St. Jude Halloween-themed pin-up, which is then displayed in the store. Petland also initiated a corporate campaign for the home office, offering payroll deductions for donations.

St. Jude is where doctors often send their toughest cases because St. Jude has the world's best survival rates for some of the most aggressive childhood cancers. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs it makes, so every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children.

Thanks to the generous support of donors who support fundraisers like this, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

In addition to efforts to raise funds for children's charities like St. Jude and Make-A-Wish, Petland stores participate in the Adopt-A-Pet program, which has found homes for nearly 350,000 abandoned or unwanted pets.

Petland, Inc. is a franchise operation with quality, full service retail pet centers across the United States, Canada, Japan, China, Mexico, South Africa, Brazil and El Salvador. For more than 47 years, Petland Pet Counselors have been dedicated to matching the right pet with the right person and meeting the needs of both. To its customers who already have pets, Petland is dedicated to enhancing their knowledge and enjoyment of the human-animal bond. Petland was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in south central Ohio. For more information on Petland, visit www.petland.com.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other deadly diseases. St. Jude has the world's best survival rates for the most aggressive childhood cancers, and treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since we opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent in the next decade. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs we make, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org or following St. Jude on facebook.com/stjude and twitter.com/stjude.

Contact:         
Elizabeth Kunzelman,
Director of Communications
Petland, Inc.
740-775-2464

SOURCE Petland, Inc.

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