Big Lots And Its Customers Raise More Than $2.3 Million Dollars Benefiting Nationwide Children's Hospital

COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Lots announced today their spring national point-of-sale campaign benefiting Nationwide Children's Hospital raised more than $2.3 million dollars. In the past 3 years, Big Lots has raised more than $8 million dollars via point-of-sale fundraising for Nationwide Children's.

"This fundraising campaign is a huge success because of the generosity of our customers and the hard work of our store associates," said David Campisi, Chief Executive Officer and President of Big Lots. "It's an extraordinary achievement for kids everywhere." Donations were accepted March 30^th through April 23^rd through Big Lots stores and 100 percent of dollars raised will go directly to support the hospital.

Nationwide Children's is America's largest not-for-profit freestanding pediatric healthcare system, delivering world-class care for more than 1.2 million patient visits each year. The hospital treats children all over the world and from across the nation, providing care to children in all 50 states and over 50 different countries.

"Our patients, families, and hospital staff are so humbled by the hard work, dedication, and generosity of the Big Lots associates and their customers," said Steve Allen, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Nationwide Children's Hospital. "We're honored and enormously grateful for this philanthropic partnership with Big Lots."

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 to support their ground breaking plans for research, treatment, and care in the underfunded need of behavioral health. The financial commitment represents the single largest financial gift of its kind to support pediatric behavioral health and with this support the Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion at Nationwide Children's Hospital is slated to open in 2020. 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 behavioral health challenges and illnesses.   

About Big Lots, Inc.
Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Big Lots, Inc. BIG is a unique, non-traditional, discount retailer operating 1,434 BIG LOTS stores in 47 states with product assortments in the merchandise categories of Furniture, Seasonal, Soft Home, Food, Consumables, Hard Home, and Electronics, Toys & 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.

To learn more about Big Lots, speak with a company representative or arrange a store visit, contact the Big Lots Media Hotline at 1-877-614-1274. To donate please visit biglots.com/give4kids

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.

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SOURCE Big Lots, Inc.