VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - April 20, 2016) - Wednesday, April 27 is International Guide Dogs Day. To help raise awareness of guide and assistance dogs, 7-Eleven Canada has joined forces with the Canadian Association of Guide & Assistance Dog Schools (CAGADS). 7-Eleven Canada is supporting CAGADS throughout April by collecting customer coin box donations from all its stores across the country, and publicizing employee training and general awareness videos.
"We've seen a tremendous difference from working with 7-Eleven to generate more awareness and education around guide and assistance dogs," says Bill Thornton, Co-Founder, CAGADS. "This awareness has helped some of our programs that need the most support, including our puppy fostering service -- positively impacting our organization and members across the country."
"Customer service is important to us and we're always looking for ways to improve," says Raj Kapoor, Vice President and General Manager, 7-Eleven Canada. "We see a value in promoting awareness of guide and assistance dogs, both with our employees and the general public. We hope this year's campaign will build on last year's successes."
Other components of the 7-Eleven Canada guide and assistance dogs campaign include in-store awareness posters, promoting CAGADS member fundraising initiatives via its social media channels and a media relations campaign.
Why the need to support guide & assistance dogs?
- Fewer than 1% of all blind and visually impaired Canadians have a guide dog
- There are only 1,200 working guide dog teams in Canada
- Every guide and assistance dogs school in Canada has a substantial wait list of approximately two years
- Vision loss in Canada is expected to increase by nearly 30% in the next decade
- Approximately half a million Canadians are estimated to be living with significant vision loss which impacts their quality of life
To support CAGADS, visit your local 7-Eleven store in the month of April and donate at the cash register. Alternatively, visit www.cagads.com
About 7 Eleven, Inc.
7-Eleven, Inc. is the premier name and largest chain in the convenience retailing industry. Based in Dallas, Texas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses nearly 10,700 7-Eleven® stores in North America. Globally, there are more than 58,500 7-Eleven stores in 16 countries. Find out more about 7-Eleven Canada at www.7elevenstores.ca.
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Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/4/19/11G094144/Images/CAGADS_image3-9fc3cd956790a23188e7ddefc80525ed.jpg
Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/4/19/11G094144/Images/CAGADS_image2-8d787aed8e358830bf8832982803a8a5.jpg
Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/4/19/11G094144/Images/CAGADS_image1-c46e2a21078285d584bec187780b0edf.jpg
Contact Information:
For more information, contact:
Charlotte Gilmour
Peak Communicators
(604) 689-5559
Cgilmour@peakco.com
