PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The holidays are about to be a little more merry for millions of children, families and pets across the U.S. and Canada thanks to the support of PetSmart, its generous shoppers and the furry, friendly faces of three plush toys named Chance, Lucky and Stanley*.
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 Chance, Lucky or Stanley* 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 to support its 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 charity, which donates 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 Eran Cohen, chief customer experience officer, PetSmart. “For the past five years, the Chance, Lucky and Stanley toy drives have been a seasonal tradition for us, and we couldn’t be more proud of their 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—longer than the Grand Canyon!
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. 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 PetSmart locations with the highest number of donated toys to date:
- PetSmart store on Broadway Street in Saugus, Mass. -- 4,360 toys
- PetSmart store on River Street in Santa Cruz, Calif. -- 4,093 toys
- PetSmart store on Chad Drive in Eugene, Ore. -- 3,813 toys
- PetSmart store on Sawmill Road in Dublin, Ohio -- 3,633 toys
- PetSmart store on Big Hollow Road in Peoria, Ill. -- 3,551 toys
- PetSmart store on South Veterans Parkway in Springfield, Ill. – 3,536 toys
- PetSmart store on South West Archer Road in Gainsville, Fla. -- 3,486 toys
- PetSmart store on Fairfield Road in Beaver Creek, Ohio – 3,435 toys
- PetSmart store on East 42nd Street in Odessa, Texas – 3,340 toys
- PetSmart store on Worcester Providence Turnpike in Millbury, Mass. -- 3,125 toys
*Stanley plush toy is available online and in-store in Canada and online only in the U.S.
About PetSmart®
PetSmart, Inc. is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. At PetSmart, we love pets, and we believe pets make us better people. Every day with every connection, PetSmart’s passionate associates help bring pet parents closer to their pets so they can live more fulfilled lives. This vision impacts everything we do for our customers, the way we support our associates and how we give back to our communities. We employ approximately 55,000 associates, operate approximately 1,500 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico and 204 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, PetSmart Doggie Day Camp day care services and pet adoption services in-store. Our portfolio of digital resources for pet parents – including PetSmart.com, PetFoodDirect.com, Pet360.com and petMD.com – offers the most comprehensive online pet supplies and pet care information in the U.S. Through our in-store pet adoption partnership with independent nonprofit organizations, PetSmart Charities® and PetSmart Charities™ of Canada have reached a significant milestone – more than 7 million pets adopted since 1994! For every 30 seconds a PetSmart store is open a pet’s life is saved, totaling about 1,400 lives saved every day.
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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
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PetSmart Charities on Facebook: Facebook.com/PetSmartCharities
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PetSmart Charities on YouTube: YouTube.com/PetSmartCharitiesInc
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 our sponsored adoption events. A leading funder of animal welfare, PetSmart Charities of Canada has granted more than $9.9 million to help pets in need with a funding focus on adoption and spay/neuter programs that help communities solve pet overpopulation. PetSmart Charities of Canada is a registered charity, independent from PetSmart.
