Medicine Shoppe Canada and the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) are marking the rollout of a unique in- pharmacy fundraising initiative. The announcement is a new collaboration for the two organizations that formalized a novel partnership designed to help Canadians maintain and improve their mental health and support their recovery from mental illness.
“Mental health issues affect us all at some time through a family member, friend or colleague. Every community across Canada is touched in some way by mental health issues.,” says Peter Coleridge, National CEO, CMHA. “This campaign is designed to raise awareness of and funds for mental health and mental illness in local communities across Canada.”
“We were looking for a way to raise funds for the CMHA that was big, bold, and really unique. We came up with the idea of the “tube-and-token fundraising fixture,” explained Murray Whitby, President, Medicine Shoppe Canada. “It had to be engaging to raise both funds and awareness of mental health issues and the support that is available to those seeking help.”
The tube-and-token is a three-dimensional fundraising thermometer and it’s big – 8 feet high and 1.5 feet wide. Three inch tokens purchased for two dollars each are dropped into in the top of a large, clear tube. Markings on the tube indicate how much money has been raised to date. When the tube is full, $1,000 has been raised by the customers and staff of the pharmacy. For every $1,000 raised in the pharmacies, Medicine Shoppe Canada will top up the local donation by $200.”
“Mental health issues can impact anyone, any family, any time. When it happens, people should think of the Medicine Shoppe pharmacy. Medicine Shoppe pharmacists are your local, accessible healthcare provider,” said Whitby. “We are a stigma-free zone”.