Kmart Raises Record $21.9 Million for St. Jude Thanks and Giving® Campaign

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Feb. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Kmart announced its Shop Your Way℠ members and customers donated a record $21.9 million to the 10^th annual St. Jude Children's Research Hospital^® Thanks and Giving^®fundraising campaign during the 2013 holiday season – the single largest corporate partner donation ever to the St. Jude campaign.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140206/DE60857 )

"We're so proud and thankful of the generosity from the millions of Shop Your Way members, customers and Kmart associates who contributed to this historic fundraising achievement," said Edward S. Lampert, Sears Holdings Chairman and CEO. "Through its research and care, St. Jude helps young patients from the communities Kmart serves across the country and around the world. This year's unprecedented results show how much the cause touches the hearts of Kmart shoppers and associates alike."

Since it began its relationship with St. Jude in 2006, Kmart has raised more than $59.2 million through in-store and online donations. Funds raised support research and treatment in the ongoing battle to end childhood cancer and other deadly diseases. The hospital recognized Kmart as its Corporate Partner of the Year in 2010, 2011 and 2013 and last year named the St. Jude LIFE and After Completion of Therapy Clinic Presented by Kmart in the company's honor.

"The incredible support we received from Kmart and its loyal Shop Your Way members during the St. Jude Thanks and Giving campaign is critical in our fight to end childhood cancer," said Marlo Thomas, national outreach director for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. "St. Jude is where doctors send some of their toughest cases because we have the world's best survival rates for the most aggressive childhood cancers. Kmart's ongoing commitment helps us continue that lifesaving work while staying true to my father's founding promise that families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing and food – because all a family should have to worry about is helping their child live."

Kmart's total was part of an overall record fundraising year for the St. Jude Thanks and Giving campaign, which raised more than $97 million for the hospital. 

St. Jude is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other deadly diseases. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to more than 80 percent since it opened 52 years ago. With the continued support of partners like Kmart and its loyal members and customers, St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent in the next decade and won't stop until no child dies from cancer.

For more information visit stjude.org or kmart.com/stjude. Shop Your Way members can also find out more via the St. Jude brand page at ShopYourWay.com. 

About Kmart
Kmart, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), is a mass merchandising company and part of SHOP YOUR WAY, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through ShopYourWay.com. Kmart offers customers quality products through a portfolio of exclusive brands that include Sofia by Sofia Vergara, Jaclyn Smith, Joe Boxer, Route 66 and Smart Sense. For more information visit the company's website at www.kmart.com | Sears Holdings Corporation website at www.searsholdings.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/kmart.

About St. Jude Children's Research Hospital^®    
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other deadly diseases. St. Jude has the world's best survival rates for the most aggressive childhood cancers, and treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since we opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent in the next decade. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs we make, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org or following St. Jude on facebook.com/stjude and twitter.com/stjude.

SOURCE Kmart