BURLINGTON, ON --(Marketwired - December 22, 2016) - The holidays are about to be a little more merry for millions of children, families and pets across Canada and the U.S. thanks to the support of PetSmart, its generous shoppers and the furry, friendly faces of three plush toys named Stanley*, Chance, and Lucky.
The plush toys retail for $5 each and are part of PetSmart's holiday philanthropic collection -- an exclusive line of products for people and pets. Since early October, PetSmart stores across North America have been inviting customers to purchase a Stanley*, Chance or Lucky toy at the check-out and donate it to an in-store toy drive supporting local community organizations selected by each store. To date, a record-breaking 1,174,791 toys have been donated and stores will continue to collect the items through Dec. 24, 2016, while supplies last.
In addition, as with PetSmart's entire holiday philanthropic line, 10 percent of the sales from each plush toy will be donated to PetSmart Charities and PetSmart Charities of Canada to support their collective mission to end pet homelessness, help pets in need and support programs that bring people and pets together. The plush toy sales have already raised more than $585,000 to support the leading animal welfare charities, which have donated more money to pets in need than any other nonprofit across North America.
"We're immensely grateful to our generous shoppers, our associates and our local toy drive partners for their support this holiday season," said John DeFranco, President of PetSmart Canada. "For the past five years, the Stanley*, Chance, and Lucky toy drives have been a seasonal tradition for us, and we couldn't be more proud of the success -- one million toys to make children's holidays a bit more merry and more than a half a million dollars to help pets in need."
This year's holiday toy drive resulted in the most toys collected since PetSmart began its in-store toy drives in 2011. One million toys is a significant number, in fact if the 18-inch plush toys were lined up end-to-end, they would span 304 miles-that's about the distance from Toronto, Ontario to Montreal, Quebec!
Many of the plush toys are well on their way to children in need this holiday season through celebratory toy drop-offs at children's hospitals, homeless shelters and Ronald McDonald Houses, as well as through larger toy drive initiatives organized by local police, fire departments and organizations dedicated to helping children and families. The plush toys are even brightening the days of seniors, with donations at senior care facilities in some communities.
From coast to coast here are the Top 10 Canadian PetSmart locations with the highest number of donated toys to date:
- PetSmart on Wellington Road in London, Ont. -- 2,770 toys
- PetSmart on Gardiners Road in Kingston, Ont. -- 2,615 toys
- PetSmart on YMCA Drive in St. Catharines, Ont. -- 1,786 toys
- PetSmart on Merivale Road in Nepean, Ont. -- 1,762 toys
- PetSmart on the Langley By-Pass in Langley, B.C. -- 1,565 toys
- PetSmart on Stone Church Road in Stoney Creek, Ont. -- 1,527 toys
- PetSmart on Fanshawe Park Road in London, Ont. -- 1,450 toys
- PetSmart on Century Crossing in Spruce Grove, Alta. -- 1,383 toys
- PetSmart on Bridgeport Road in Richmond, B.C. -- 1,327 toys
- PetSmart on Legacy Park Drive in Windsor, Ont. -- 1,323 toys
*Stanley plush toy is available online and in-store in Canada and online only in the U.S.
About PetSmart® In Canada, PetSmart is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. At PetSmart, we believe pets make us better people. That's why we create more moments for people to be inspired by pets. This mission impacts everything we do for our customers, the way we support our associates, and how we give back to our communities. We employ more than 3,500 associates and operate more than 121 pet stores across Canada with seven operating in-store PetSmart® PetsHotel ™ dog and cat boarding facilities. PetSmart provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and pet products and offers dog training, pet grooming, pet boarding, and pet adoption services in-store. Our portfolio of digital resources for Pet Parents -- including PetSmart.ca , Pet360.com and petMD.com -- offers the most comprehensive online pet supplies and pet care information in North America. Through its in-store pet adoption partnership with PetSmart Charities of Canada, PetSmart has helped save the lives of more than 225,000 pets since 1999.
Follow PetSmart on Twitter and Instagram: @PetSmart Find PetSmart on Facebook: facebook.com/PetSmartCanada See PetSmart on YouTube: YouTube.com/PetSmart
About PetSmart Charities™ of Canada PetSmart Charities of Canada is a nonprofit animal welfare organization that saves the lives of homeless pets in Canada. Each year, more than 20,000 pets find Canadian homes through our adoption program in nearly all PetSmart stores across Canada and at our sponsored adoption events. A leading funder of animal welfare, PetSmart Charities of Canada has granted more than $10 million to help pets in need with a funding focus on adoption and spay/neuter programs that help communities solve pet overpopulation and providing emergency relief to pets and pet parents affected by natural and man- made disasters. PetSmart Charities of Canada is a registered charity, independent from PetSmart.
About PetSmart Charities® PetSmart Charities, Inc . is a nonprofit animal welfare organization that saves the lives of homeless pets. Each year nearly 500,000 dogs and cats find homes through our adoption program in all PetSmart® stores across the U.S. and sponsored adoption events. Each year millions of PetSmart shoppers contribute to PetSmart Charities to help pets in need by making donations on a pin pad at the register. PetSmart Charities efficiently uses 90 cents of every dollar to support its mission of finding lifelong, loving homes for all pets. PetSmart Charities grants more money to directly help pets in need than any other animal welfare group in North America, with a focus on funding adoption and spay/neuter programs that help communities solve pet overpopulation. PetSmart Charities is a 501(c)(3) organization, independent from PetSmart, Inc. PetSmart Charities has received the Four Star Rating for the past 13 years from Charity Navigator, an independent nonprofit that reports on the effectiveness, accountability and transparency of nonprofits, placing it among the top one percent of charities rated by this organization.
Follow PetSmart Charities on Twitter: @PetSmartChariTs Find PetSmart Charities on Facebook: Facebook.com/PetSmartCharities See PetSmart Charities on YouTube: YouTube.com/PetSmartCharitiesInc
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Miriam Fitting Golin for PetSmart Canada and PetSmart Charities of Canada 416-483-6225 ext. 3400 mfitting@golin.com
