Walmart Calls on Public to "Sing to Salute Military Families" This Holiday Season

PRESS RELEASE

BENTONVILLE, Ark., Dec. 1, 2015 — Today, on Giving Tuesday, Walmart is asking the public to literally lend its voice to support military families this holiday season. The company is kicking off Holiday Sing to Salute Military Families, a nationwide campaign that encourages the public to sing a portion of a classic holiday song while capturing it on video, and then post the video on social media channels to show support for members of the military and their families. Through these actions, Walmart will donate up to $1 million to Fisher House Foundation, which for the past 25 years has provided a home-away-from-home for military and veterans’ families whose loved ones are in a nearby military or veterans hospital. The goal of the donation is to help Fisher House Foundation fund a full year of lodging for military families staying at Fisher Houses on U.S. military bases. Additionally, Walmart is launching the campaign with an initial $500,000 donation to Fisher House Foundation.

In recent years, more than 250,000 military men and women have returned home from overseas annually, many of whom are seeking medical treatment and are being treated at hospitals away from their families. Walmart’s Holiday Sing to Salute Military Families campaign aims to provide opportunities for these families to spend more time together during recovery while helping to provide a platform for the general public to show its support for our military, veterans and their families during the holiday season.

“For more than 25 years, Fisher House Foundation has helped our nation’s military families be with their loved ones while they recover and receive medical treatment at local hospitals. Walmart is honored to help Fisher House Foundation continue their efforts and share the joy of the season with the families staying at the houses this holiday,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, chief sustainability officer of Walmart and president of the Walmart Foundation. “Our initiative this December is part of Walmart’s overall commitment to support veterans and their families. Working together with our partners, we are helping to strengthen ecosystems that benefit military members as they return home and transition back to civilian life.”

The initial $500,000 donation from Walmart to Fisher House Foundation will be distributed among more than 60 U.S.-based Fisher Houses. This donation will be used for home improvements and holiday festivities, including gifts for families and visits from Santa. Walmart is asking the public to join in the campaign and take action to help Walmart donate up to an additional $1 million. From Dec. 1 to Dec. 22, the public can participate by taking the following steps:

• Create a holiday greeting or video of one or more individuals singing a portion of a classic holiday song.
• Post the greeting or video on a public Instagram, Twitter or YouTube account with the hashtag #Sing2Salute. If you’re posting on YouTube, make sure the hashtag is in your video’s title and post description.
• In the post, tag a friend and call on them to participate.

As always, your posted content should comply with the guidelines of the social media platform you choose. For each public post on Instagram, Twitter or YouTube using the hashtag #Sing2Salute during the campaign, Walmart will donate $100, up to $1 million, to Fisher House Foundation. To learn more about Walmart’s Holiday Sing to Salute Military Families campaign, review rules for participation and see featured videos, visitwww.walmart.com/sing2salute.

“I’m so pleased to be working with Walmart this holiday season to bring a little extra cheer to our military, veterans and their families,” said Ken Fisher, chairman and CEO of Fisher House Foundation. “I can’t say that I’m a great singer, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is getting our voices out there to say thank you and spread cheer. That’s what the real purpose of the campaign is all about. And it has double value in that it will help Fisher House Foundation fund lodging for military families staying at Fisher Houses on U.S. military bases. Additionally, Walmart is helping brighten the holidays for families staying at Fisher Houses this holiday. What better way to show that America really cares.”

Walmart’s support of military families and veterans this holiday season is just one way the company is demonstrating its long-standing commitment to support men and women in uniform. This October, Walmart launched the Greenlight A Vet campaign to help create visible and actionable national support for veterans nationwide. Walmart invited all Americans to show support for veterans by changing one light bulb in their home to green, raising awareness on social media, volunteering and serving with veteran groups in their community, or starting a mentor/mentee relationship with a veteran. Walmart is committed to greenlighting veterans, including hiring 250,000 veterans by 2020 through Walmart’s Veterans Welcome Home Commitment. As part of this effort, Walmart recently greenlighted its 100,000th veteran hire. While a job is a vital piece of transitioning from military to civilian life for a veteran, it also takes a coordinated, multi-sector effort to create healthy transitions to civilian life. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have committed $20 million in grants to organizations that provide veteran job training, education and community-based collaboration.

During the holiday season, Walmart will also provide support to two more nonprofits servicing military families and honoring veterans, including:

• Operation Homefront: Walmart is helping Operation Homefront put a holiday meal on the table of 8,500 military families in 26 locations nationwide. Walmart has supported Operation Homefront’s Holiday Meals for Military program since 2006.
• Wreaths Across America: Walmart is providing tractor trailers, private fleet drivers and a donation of $150,000 to Wreaths Across America to help honor U.S. veterans by laying wreaths in 900 locations on National Wreaths Across America Day, Dec. 12.

Additionally, celebrating the Red Kettle Campaign’s 125th anniversary this year, Walmart stores and Sam’s Club locations nationwide will host red kettles and bell ringers throughout December to help The Salvation Army provide food, clothing, shelter, financial assistance and other services to those in need. Walmart also is working to brighten the holidays for local kids in need by sponsoring Fill The Truck events at participating stores. During the weekends of Nov. 27-29, Dec. 4-6 and Dec.11-13, Walmart is inviting customers to visit their local participating stores and donate a new toy, coat or other gift to a local charity for a child in need.