Big Brothers Big Sisters of Williams Lake earned a total of $2,147.18 during Safeway’s Canada Screams for Ice Cream Campaign in June.
For one day on June 24 to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary Safeway, Sobeys, and IGA stores across western Canada invited customers to make a $2 donation in exchange for an ice cream bar.
Each store chose a different charity to benefit from the fundraiser. In Williams Lake Big Brothers Big Sisters staff and volunteers manned the ice cream donation booth during the six-hour campaign.
In just six hours, customer donations at Sobeys, Safeway and IGA stores in western Canada reached $177,502, announced Renee Hopfner, director of community investment.
Sobeys Inc. contributed an additional $100,000 to bring the campaign total for the western provinces to $277,502.
This week for their part in the campaign Big Brothers Big Sisters of Williams Lake received Safeway gift certificates totalling $2,147.18.
“As this funding is to support healthy eating in children and youth we will be using the cards to purchase healthy snacks and meals in all three programs that we run,” says BBBS executive director Melissa Newberry.
BBBS provides an in-school mentoring program, group mentoring programs and the community-based big brother/little brother and big sister/little sister mentoring programs.
The funds will help to cover costs of the organization’s 2017/18 budget which has been negatively impacted this year by the loss of their Tour de Cariboo fundraising event as a consequence of the wildfires in the Williams Lake area.
Hopfner said 100 per cent of the $277,502 in funds raised by the Canada Screams for Ice Cream Campaign go toward making healthy snacks and meals possible for children in the communities where Sobeys, Safeway and IGA stores operate.
“This incredible result is a direct reflection of the energy and passion from 300 stores, 113 charity partners and more than 1,000 community volunteers,” Hopfner said.
