A Long-standing Partnership:
M&M Meat Shops and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada

• May 10, 2008 marks the 20th Annual M&M Meat Shops Charity BBQ Day in support of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada’s (CCFC) mission.  This community event raises public awareness and money for crucial medical research for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, also known as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
• This year’s fundraising goal is $2 million.  For twenty years, M&M Meat Shops Franchisees, Product Consultants, customers and volunteers have raised more than $14.5 million for IBD research through various charitable initiatives.
• M&M Meat Shops Charity BBQ Day is CCFC’s largest fundraising event by a single supporter.  In recognition of this support, M&M Meat Shops is a Platinum Sponsor of CCFC. 
• Most of the money raised through M&M Meat Shops Charity BBQ Day helps fund the CCFC IBD Research Institute, which reviews all studies on the disease and selects the best project in which to invest.

Facts about IBD and CCFC 

• There is no known cause or cure for IBD.
• Nearly 200,000 Canadians are affected by either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, and this number is rapidly growing.
• Recent results from a CCFC initiated epidemiological study, “The Burden of IBD in Canada,” led by Dr. Charles Bernstein, University of Manitoba, show that Canada has among the highest incidence rates of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in the world.
• These chronic diseases affect the digestive system and cause the intestines to become inflamed, form ulcers, bleed easily and scar.
• CCFC is a not-for-profit, voluntary medical research foundation dedicated to finding the cure for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.  CCFC is committed to raising funds for medical research.
• CCFC is the single largest sponsor of IBD research in Canada and one of the world’s leading sources of non-governmental, per capita funding of IBD research. To date, it has invested nearly $50 million in major research projects identified through the CCFC IBD Research Institute and the training of research personnel.
• Educating patients, family members, health professionals and the general public about IBD is also a part of the Foundation’s work.

Facts about M&M Meat Shops and the CCFC

• The partnership between M&M Meat Shops and the CCFC extends beyond Charity BBQ Day.  M&M Meat Shops’ ongoing fundraising initiatives include:
• National Family Dinner Night;
• Raising funds through regional and celebrity golf tournaments;
• Providing counter space for CCFC coin boxes;
• Sponsoring the Heel 'n' Wheel-a-Thon and providing support in the form of BBQs in many event locations across the country;
• Helping organize the SuperGala, one of Canada's largest fundraising events, with proceeds divided between the CCFC and various children's charities;
• In 1995, the CCFC established the M&M Meat Shops Grant in Aid Of Research to honour its major benefactor. This was the first time CCFC named a grant in a donor's name and continues to do so annually. 
  
  For more information or to find the store nearest you, please contact Allison Lawrence or Laura Heidbuechel at Strategic Objectives.
  Tel: (416) 366-7735; Fax: (416) 366-2295; Email: alawrence@strategicobjectives.com