Community pharmacy passes $1 million milestone to make children’s wishes come true

To mark World Wish Day on April 29, Blooms The Chemist stores will raise thousands more for Make-A-Wish Australia through their keepsake pin drive.

Blooms The Chemist stores across the country have raised more than $1 million for Make-A-Wish^® Australia through local and national fundraising activities, helping the charity to create unforgettable wishes for children with a critical illness.

Having achieved that significant milestone, Blooms The Chemist is now raising further much needed funds in the lead up to World Wish Day on April 29, with a goal of securing tens of thousands of donations from across its pharmacy stores from sales of exclusive keepsake Make-A-Wish pins.

Blooms The Chemist Karabar’s Retail Manager, Di Dallinger, expressed her gratitude to the local community for their support of the pin drive, seeing the Karabar store sell an average of 45 pins a day throughout April.

“The entire team at Blooms The Chemist Karabar have really made it their personal mission to raise as many funds as possible as part of the pin drive in the lead up to World Wish Day. When the pins sold out, our lovely customers have continued to donate via Make-A-Wish merchandise and other regular contributions. It is honestly so heart-warming to see the kindness of the Karabar community and others around the country as they rally behind the fundraising for these incredible children.

“With my daughter Bree being seriously ill for most of her life, I understand firsthand how important and life-changing the work that charities like Make-A-Wish do. They truly acknowledge these families’ hardships and struggles by enabling and providing experiences that will be fondly remembered for a lifetime,” said Dallinger.

Blooms The Chemist’s CEO, Phil Smith, says the pharmacy network is proud to be a longstanding partner of the inspirational children’s charity, which has been making wishes come true for critically ill children in Australia since 1985.

“Blooms The Chemist pharmacists play a critical role in our local communities, so it’s important we use our influence to help support life-changing organisations like Make-A-Wish Australia, a proud partnership we started in 2016.

“Blooms The Chemist has helped make unicorns fly, send rockets to the moon and more recently take Vivid to Melbourne, all unforgettable wishes that we have supported through the magnificent $1 million donation milestone – a figure that would not have been possible without the unwavering support and generosity of our local communities and our employees. These efforts have been especially important over the past year with more than 800 kids’ wishes delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Smith.

For 35 years, Make-A-Wish Australia has empowered seriously ill children and teenagers across the country with hope and joy, granting more than 10,000 wishes thanks to supporters like Blooms The Chemist. Spanning a five-year partnership, Blooms The Chemist has donated a percentage of its retail profits alongside community fundraising initiatives to the children’s charity.

Make-A-Wish Australia CEO, Sally Bateman, says Make-A-Wish Australia’s partnership with Blooms The Chemist has been instrumental in driving community-led donations for the children’s charity for the past five years.

“We are incredibly grateful for the ongoing generosity, kindness and support that Blooms The Chemist shows to Make-A-Wish. To have raised $1 million through their community fundraising is a testament to the passion of their incredible people across their vast local pharmacy network.

Together, we’ll continue to empower sick kids with the hope and joy that only a wish can bring,” said Bateman.

Blooms The Chemist network partners with local communities and other businesses to drive incredibly important fundraising events. Since 2016, together they have:

• Held more than 100 store fundraisers
• Baked thousands of cupcakes and biscuits for numerous bake sales
• Organised dozens of raffles and guessing competitions
• Dressed up as countless superheroes and childhood career ambitions
• Played more than 6,000 holes of golf on annual charity golf days
• Answered more than 400 trivia questions
• Cooked more than 2,500 sausages and 9kgs of onions over several sausage sizzles

“It’s been inspiring to see our volunteers and partners like Blooms The Chemist rally around wishes, despite the challenging nature of the past year. With the unwavering support of our community, we can now safely grant many of the wishes that faced delays due to the impact of COVID,” said Bateman.

For more information on the partnership between Blooms The Chemist and Make-A-Wish, visit https://www.bloomsthechemist.com.au/make-a-wish.