COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) announced today that its 2016 "Give Big
for Kids" campaign raised $3.6 million for lifesaving pediatric research and care at Nationwide
Children's Hospital, a $1.4 million increase over last year's campaign donation to the hospital of
$2.2 million.
The six-week-long campaign offered customers and associates the opportunity to donate in-store and online to support
Nationwide Children's, which is based in Columbus, Ohio, but cares for patients from all 50 U.S.
States and 41 countries. Funds raised will help benefit state-of-the-art facilities, revolutionary research and available
lifesaving treatments.
The campaign also included shopping sprees for hospital patient champions representing Big Lots in seven markets across the
country, including California, Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio,
Tennessee and Texas. Patient champions are children who are
being treated or have been treated at Nationwide Children's and this year's Big Lots patient champions had an opportunity to shop
at their local Big Lots store for gifts to send back to patients at Nationwide Children's to enjoy.
In addition to spearheading the Give Big for Kids campaign, on August 31, 2016, Big Lots
together with the Big Lots Foundation announced a $50 million transformational gift to Nationwide
Children's Hospital. This gift will support the construction of the Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion. The 250,000-square-foot
pavilion on the hospital's main campus will foster collaboration with Nationwide Children's research teams, as well as community
partner agencies to help care for children and teens with mental illness and behavioral health conditions.
"On behalf of Big Lots, I want to express sincere thanks to our customers and associates and their generosity for making a
tremendous difference in the lives of the many patients at Nationwide Children's Hospital through their kind donations," said
David Campisi Big Lots CEO and President. "Our patient champions continue to inspire the Big Lots community, and we are so
thrilled to have exceeded our goal of $3 million for this year's Give Big for Kids program. We look
forward to continuing our support for the hospital through similar donation programs in the future and our commitment to the
Behavioral Health expansion."
To learn more about Big Lots, speak with a company representative or arrange a store visit, contact the Big Lots media hotline
at 877-251-0243 or visit BigLotsMedia.com.
About Big Lots, Inc.
Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) is a unique,
non-traditional, discount retailer operating 1,445 Big Lots stores in 47 states with product assortments in the merchandise
categories of Food, Consumables, Furniture, Seasonal, Soft Home, Hard Home, and Electronics & Accessories. Our vision is to
be recognized for providing an outstanding shopping experience for our customers, valuing and developing our associates, and
creating growth for our shareholders. Big Lots supports the communities it serves through the Big Lots Foundation, a charitable
organization focused on four areas of need: hunger, housing, healthcare and education. For more information about the company,
visit www.biglots.com.
About Nationwide Children's Hospital
Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Report's 2016-17 list of "America's Best
Children's Hospitals," Nationwide Children's Hospital is America's largest not-for-profit freestanding pediatric healthcare
system providing wellness, preventive, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitative care for infants, children and adolescents, as
well as adult patients with congenital disease. Nationwide Children's has a staff of more than 11,000 providing state-of-the-art
pediatric care during more than 1.2 million patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of the Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children's physicians train the next generation of
pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital is one of the Top 10 National
Institutes of Health–funded freestanding pediatric research facilities. Nationwide Children's remains true to the original
mission since its founding in 1892 of providing care regardless of a family's ability to pay. More information is available at
NationwideChildrens.org.
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/big-lots-give-big-for-kids-campaign-raises-36-million-to-support-nationwide-childrens-hospital-300376755.html
SOURCE Big Lots, Inc.