Thursday, September 01, 2016
Big Lots Inc. announced a $50 million, 10-year pledge to Nationwide Children's Hospital for its behavioral health programs, gaining naming rights to both the clinical department and a planned pediatric psychiatric hospital on the Columbus campus.
It's quite a splashy debut in philanthropy: The Columbus retailer first established a corporate charitable foundation last year.
CEO David Campisi, who joined the hospital's board last year, told me he wanted to make behavioral health a priority after learning about the hospital's research and the increasing severity of suicide and mental health issues in children and teens.
"Let's get on the offensive on this care," Campisi said. "We can get to these kids early and get them help and have beds for them instead of sending them home when therapists know we shouldn't.
"People will stand up and talk about cancer and whether they had it or someone they loved had it, (but) it's not OK to talk about mental health issues," he said. "We want to break that barrier at Big Lots. ... We felt very compelled we need to be part of this journey to allow friends and family to talk about it, whether it's an eating disorder or autism or suicide, to speak out about it and not feel ashamed."
Campisi surprised employees with the announcement Wednesday at the company's annual meeting at the Greater Columbus Convention Center for some 1,000 regional and district managers from around the country. Over the next 10 years the gift will come from a combination of direct gifts from operating funds and employee payroll deductions, plus an annual golf outing and a nationwide campaign in which customers are asked to add a donation of $1 or more at the register.
Big Lots (NYSE:BIG) raised $2.2 million for Children's in five weeks with the first register campaign last year, which made executives confident they could raise $5 million a year with concerted efforts.
“It’s really important that a company like Big Lots is putting their philanthropic support behind behavioral health,” Children’s CEO Dr. Steve Allen told me. “ That is a difficult area for almost any entity to raise money for.”
The $158 million Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion is part of a $730 million campus expansion. The eight-story building, set to open in 2020, will include 48 inpatient pediatric beds for psychiatric care, a crisis stabilization center and outpatient clinics.
Children's is in the early stages of a fund drive called "Be The Reason," intended to cover one-third of the expansion and an undetermined amount toward clinical care and research. The family of late Columbus Dispatch Publisher John F. Wolfe pledged $15 million, and his wife Ann Wolfe is leading the campaign.
“What we have found in the past is that anchor gifts like this inspire others to elevate the level of philanthropy that they’re considering for the hospital,” Allen said. “We’ve seen already a number of entities who have not previously participated come forward in supporting the hospital.”
Campisi said Big Lots CFO Tim Johnson first persuaded him to tour the hospital after he moved to Columbus for the job three years ago, and he was "stunned" at its quality and scope.
The Big Lots gift matches the $50 million naming rights pledge that Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. made to the hospital 10 years ago. Nationwide through its foundation has continued donating to Children's.
“I’m just blessed to be here in a city that is so wildly philanthropic and so giving," Campisi said. "I’ve lived in 10 states and I’ve never seen anything like it."
Source : bizjournals.com
