Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 34

STORE 2013 ERA AWARDS

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY LARGE-SIZE RETAILER

A SPORTING GESTURE

Sporting goods retailer donates more
than $2-million to kids fighting cancer
IN 1998, Sporting Life held its first annual Sporting Life 10k

event—a run that was initiated to allow patrons of Sporting Life the
opportunity to run in an important community event that helped
local charities and foundations in need. 1,200 runners turned out
on that day with $1 from every entry fee going to charity.
15 years later, the event has grown to include more than 27,000
runners. And, in 2012, the company decided that for the first time
ever, all of the proceeds of the event would go directly to charity.
“The owners and management of Sporting
Life felt that in order to truly meet their objectives, more dollars needed to go directly to
charity rather than to third party race organizers,” explains John Roe, director of marketing,
advertising and social media, Sporting Life.

sible by our communities and the generous support of donors and volunteers. It means so much
to the entire Sporting Life team. In fact, since
2003, co-owners Brian McGrath and David Russell regularly reach out to engage our vendors
for their participation. We want as many people
as possible to be involved. The children are the
ones who benefit from the generosity.”

Taking control to give more

To ensure that Sporting Life owners and
management could, indeed, give more, the
company made the decision in 2012 to take
ownership of the run and hire a new race director, resulting in 100 per cent of net proceeds
from the run going directly to charity.
“This decision was made in consultation
with the owners and management of Sporting
Life locations,” says Roe. “It was pretty much
unanimous that we alter how the event was run
so it could have greater impact for the kids at
Camp Ooch.”
Camp Ooch is Sporting Life’s charity of choice, and benefactor of the donated proceeds from the run. Camp Oochigeas is
a summer camp that offers year-round programs for children
affected by childhood cancer. Through these programs, Camp
Oochigeas provides fun and meaningful experiences to approximately 800 children affected by cancer each year at no
cost to their families. A number that Roe would like to see increase year-over-year.
“The goal of our campaign last year was simple—to raise more
dollars for the kids at Camp Ooch than we had ever raised before.
These kids are sick, but their spirit and their determination and
their love for life is inspiring. We’re doing our best to help.”
More to give

A record 23,000 runners turned out last year, helping raise
more than $2.1-million for Camp Ooch—an accomplishment that
Roe appreciates in full.
“This is really amazing,” he says. “All of this has been made pos-

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canadian retailer | store 2013 | www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

100% of event net proceeds go to charity.

Though the success of the 2012 Sporting Life
10k event was immense, Roe believes that the
company can do more and urges his colleagues
and partners to raise even more money for the
Camp Ooch kids in 2013.
“I think we can safely say that we’re expecting somewhere in the region of 27,000
runners to come out and join us at this year’s
event,” he says confidently.
Aided by newly formed partnerships with the
Toronto Star, Pattison/One Stop Media, CP24
and Nike Canada, Sporting Life is hoping to
raise even more money this year with a target
of $2.4-million.
“This event just keeps growing,” says Roe.
“It’s such a great cause and a fantastic community-building event. I don’t see why we
wouldn’t be able to build on our success every
year, indefinitely.”

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