Carleton Place, ON – November 13, 2020 | Board members of the Carleton Place & District Memorial Hospital (CPDMH) Foundation attended The Beer Store location in Carleton Place for a cheque presentation. Presenting the cheque for $15,903.35 on behalf of The Beer Store were Valerie McNeely, store manager and members of the Carleton Place store team. Accepting the cheque on behalf of the CPDMH Foundation were board members Joanna Luciano, vice-chair; Esmail Merani, director; Ken Mylrea, treasurer; and Stephen Tunks, director.

The Beer Store held a COVID-19 Community Donation Drive during the months of April through August raising more than $2.38 million for local hospitals and food banks across the province of Ontario. The CPDMH Foundation was very fortunate to have been the chosen by Carleton Place’s The Beer Store as their local charity of choice for the fundraiser. A table was set up outside The Beer Store and patrons were encouraged to leave their empties on the table and proceeds from those empties were to be donated to CPDMH Foundation. Low and behold, our small-town Beer Store outperformed all the stores in the Ottawa district and raised the most money to be donated to their chosen local charity.

“At the onset of the pandemic, our team wanted nothing more than to give back to our community,” stated Valerie McNeely, store manager, The Beer Store, Carleton Place. “Supporting community is a core value at The Beer Store and we take great pride in doing so through bottle drives, empty containers and coin box donation. Our store chose our local hospital and we couldn't be prouder of our employees and their efforts.”

“The support from our customers with their return donations really added up,” continued Ms. McNeely. “The community rallied and our customers were extremely generous knowing that the donations were going to the hospital,” added McNeely. “We are very proud of our efforts and even prouder to announce that we were the top performing store in our district giving back to local charities.”

“Fundraising events such as The Beer Store’s Community Donation Drive play an integral part in helping the Foundation provide the hospital with vital funding that is not otherwise covered through the Ministry of Health,” stated Robyn Arseneau, executive director, CPDMH Foundation. “We are very grateful to the Carleton Place store for choosing CPDMH Foundation as their local charity of choice for this fundraiser,” added Mrs. Arseneau.

Established in 1994, the Carleton Place & District Memorial Hospital (CPDMH) Foundation is a registered charity dedicated to raising funds for the Carleton Place & District Memorial Hospital in support of providing the best healthcare possible to the residents of Carleton Place and surrounding communities. Each year the CPDMH Foundation commits to purchasing modern and up-to-date patient care equipment which is needed for the hospital. In addition to providing vital equipment, the CPDMH Foundation also raises funds to support staff education and training, high school bursaries, various special equipment and program needs and upgrades to the hospital facility. For more information, please visit cpdmhfoundation.ca or contact Robyn Arseneau, Executive Director at 613-257-GIVE (4483) or foundation@carletonplacehosp.com. Charitable Registration No. 86610 5398 RR0001

The Beer Store offers customers more than 800 brands, provided by more than 225 brewers in 2019. Approximately 1-in-5 brands come from small Ontario brewers. It is a completely open system that allows any brewer in the world to sell their brands in any store they choose. The Beer Store is deeply committed to responsible sale and not selling to minors and people who are intoxicated. More than 2.5 million customers were challenged in 2019 alone. It is also one of the greenest retailers in the world and collected more than 1.4 billion beer bottles in 2019 (a 97 per cent return rate) and over 406 million wine and spirit containers (a 79 per cent return rate). The Beer Store Employs 7,000 hard-working Ontarians with well-paying full- and part-time jobs.