Smurfit-Stone Raises $1 million to Fight Cancer

Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., Chicago, has presented the American Cancer Society with a $134,000 donation to benefit the Hope Lodge Center in St. Louis.

The newest donation brings to approximately $1.1 million the amount the company’s St. Louis-based recycling division has raised for the Hope Lodge Center.

For more than a decade, Smurfit-Stone’s recycling division has sponsored fundraising events to benefit the 44-bed extended care facility, where cancer patients and their caregivers stay free of charge during the course of treatment.

The recent $134,000 contribution was from this year’s Tournament of Hope golf outing, held Oct. 1 at Glen Echo Country Club in St. Louis.

“Our support of the Hope Lodge is an investment in the quality of life of the patients they serve as well as the St. Louis community,” says Patrick J. Moore, chairman and CEO of Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. “In the past, many cancer patients seeking quality treatment at St. Louis area hospitals had no choice but to stay in motels and eat at nearby restaurants. Their mounting motel and food bills only exacerbated the challenges they faced in dealing with their cancer. The Hope Lodge helps ease these burdens and, in so doing, demonstrates the humanitarianism and citizenship Smurfit-Stone strives to emulate everywhere we operate.”

The Tournament of Hope is an annual event organized by Smurfit-Stone’s recycling division. Company executives, account and sales representatives, customers, suppliers and vendors all participate in the outing.

“It’s a great way to build relationships and have fun while raising money for a worthwhile cause,” says Mike Oswald, senior vice president and general manager of Smurfit-Stone’s recycling division.

To date, Smurfit-Stone has sponsored 35 patient suites, two laundry rooms and a portion of a dayroom at the Hope Lodge Center. This year’s fundraiser will allow the company to complete sponsorship of the dayroom and four additional suites.

June Shrinner, director of the Hope Lodge, says Smurfit-Stone is the facility’s largest corporate sponsor. “Smurfit-Stone has always been a wonderful supporter of the Hope Lodge Center and very supportive of the work we do in the community,” Shrinner says. “It’s awesome to me that they put together this wonderful event and that competitors, vendors and suppliers all come together to play in it.”

Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. is a leading integrated manufacturer of paperboard and paper-based packaging products and service and is one of the world’s largest paper recyclers.