A Billion Dollar Impact

In 1987, Sam Walton told the founders of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals that his associates would amaze them. More than 30 years later, Walmart and Sam’s Club associates have done just that, and so much more! In fact, in 2018, Walmart and Sam’s Club associates reached an inspiring milestone. They helped to reach the $1 billion – yes, billion – raised for children’s hospitals in the United States and Canada – the largest amount ever raised by a company for a non-profit.

Locally, associates at the Sam’s Club in Bangor, and the Walmart stores in Bangor, Brewer, Lincoln, Houlton, Presque Isle, Calais, Ellsworth, Newport, and Skowhegan have helped to turn those dollars into miracles – life-saving medical equipment, therapies, and advanced training for staff.

One of the items that we purchased is Miracle One. You may have seen it on the highway. It’s the ambulance with the footprints, rainbow, and sun, but it’s not just any ambulance. It’s a specialty ambulance that transports the tiniest of patients from hospitals in rural Maine to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center for the specialized care they need.

Since 2007, Miracle One has traveled 178,000 miles of Maine’s rural roads to ensure babies are safely transported to Bangor. Thank you, Walmart and Sam’s Club, for helping to make miracles happen for Maine kids – one penny, one nickel, one dime, one dollar at a time.