For this Walmart driver, our Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Campaign hits home in a very personal way.
Editor's Note: Another record-setting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals campaign wrapped up on July 14, 2023. Thanks to the generosity and dedication of associates, customers and members, Walmart and Sam’s Club were able to raise over $41 million in support of more than 170 Children’s Miracle Network hospitals across the country.
Millions of kids have been helped by Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN) since Walmart and Sam’s Club started donating to it. But if you ask Walmart driver Brian Thomas why he donates to the cause, the answer comes down to one little boy: his 6-year-old son Jace.
A miracle right at home
Jace is the youngest of Brian’s three kids. He was born with congenital heart disease and required many procedures to prepare him for open heart surgery at 12 months old.
After enduring the emotional roller coaster of medical appointments and surgeries, Brian and his wife reviewed their first medical bill. “We had about a $185,000 medical bill that we were looking at and my wife called the hospital to schedule the payment process,” Brian shares. “But the hospital told us to hold on, that there were some changes that needed to be made.”
When a new bill arrived, they confirmed that all the procedures and billing codes were the same. There was one big difference: The new bill’s total was zero, thanks to help from CMN!
“We will be forever indebted to them,” Brian says. “They’re a great organization.” He and his family take every opportunity to donate to CMN.
What drives him
As a Walmart driver for nine years, Brian also supports CMN through Walmart’s Safe Driving for Kids Campaign. For every safe mile driven by Walmart truck drivers, money is donated to the campaign.
“I look at every mile we drive as a donation to a great cause,” he says. “It's gonna go to help other families in need. I can't speak enough about the Safe Driving for Kids donation that we do every year. It's just very important.”
Today, Jace is an active 6-year-old who is excited to start first grade. “You really can't tell he's ever had anything done,” Brian says. He likes riding dirt bikes with his family, swimming, playing baseball and showing lambs at the county fair.
The Children’s Miracle Network provides charitable care and patient services to patients and their families, lifesaving equipment to hospitals, funding for research and education for families, patients and communities. In 2022, Walmart and Sam’s Club raised more than $40 million for CMN.
