Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation and Shoppers Drug Mart are partnering in an effort to raise funds to help improve the quality of life for women and their families in Surrey through the Tree of Life campaign. Now in its eighth year, the three-week fundraising campaign, running from Sept. 26 through Oct. 16 at more than 1,150 Shoppers Drug Mart stores, will harvest much-needed funds to support Surrey Memorial Hospital’s programs and services.

“With the enthusiastic support of Shoppers Drug Mart and its customers, Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation will be able to purchase technology that will help us detect breast cancer early,” said Jane Adams, president and CEO, Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation.

“This will obviously be tremendously important to many women and their loved ones.”

The public can help cultivate the harvest by visiting any local participating Shoppers Drug Mart store and purchasing a “leaf” for a loonie, a “maple leaf” for $5 or an “apple” for $50. Each time a person contributes, they can personalize a “leaf” to be placed on a branch of the Tree of Life which will be prominently displayed in the store.

Online contributions can be made by visiting http://www.shoppersdrugmart.ca

The Shoppers Drug Mart Tree of Life fundraising campaign is a three-week program held across Canada each autumn. Customers, staff and pharmacist-owners raise funds for a local women’s health initiative through the purchase of the Tree of Life paper icons.

Since 2002, the Tree of Life campaign has raised $11 million for Canadian health charities. This year alone, more than 300 women’s health charities across Canada will benefit from the proceeds.