South Okanagan Women in Need and Shoppers Drug Mart Raise Essential Funds for Women Through Tree of Life Campaign

With the combined efforts of Shoppers Drug Mart, its employees and customers, South Okanagan women experiencing or at risk of violence or abuse will have some much needed support for programs that assist them to seek safety and change in their lives.

Shoppers Drug Mart Tree of Life fundraising campaign was spearheaded by Penticton Shoppers Drug Mart Cashier Supervisor Stephanie Lerner and it harvested more than $4500 to support programs for clients of South Okanagan Women in Need Society (SOWINS).

The 4 week campaign was the tenth annual and SOWINS is very appreciative of the efforts put forth by Stephanie, her fellow employees and Penticton’s Shoppers store owner Shannon Crawford. The South Okanagan campaign which included participation from stores in other cities such as Summerland was one of over 1200 run across the country.

“The success of the 2012 tree of life campaign can be attributed to the support and commitment of our loyal customers and staff” said Shannon. “We are very pleased to present this year’s proceeds to SOWINS, and were thrilled when we let donors know who the recipient organization was, that any questions they had melted away and they decided easily to make a contribution”.

When asked how the campaign exceeded the initial $3000 goal, Stephanie commented “We really got into the spirit of it this year. We can be quite competitive when it comes to this kind of thing.”

On behalf of our clients, SOWINS director Maimie DeSilva who received the cheque last week, deeply thanks Stephanie and Shannon for their leadership, and each person and business for their donation to the success of this campaign. “It is truly heartwarming to receive this expression of care, consideration and generosity.” Said Maimie.