BC Liquor Stores customers and staff are making a difference in the Horn of Africa by donating $323,902 to help support Red Cross relief efforts in Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Uganda.

Donations are matched by the Government of Canada, doubling the contribution.

BC Liquor Stores collected the donations between Friday, Aug. 5 and Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011 at their 197 locations. The funds raised have been added to the Canadian Red Cross Horn of Africa Relief Fund.

The Canadian Red Cross provides men, women and children with necessary emergency relief, medical treatment and assistance to recover their livelihoods. Donations to the Canadian Red Cross have already helped them deploy their basic health-care unit to treat people who have been affected by cholera in Chad. This unit is part of the First Responder Initiative, a partnership with the Government of Canada.

The Liquor Distribution Branch has a long-term partnership with the Canadian Red Cross. Since 2010, BC Liquor Store customers and employees have raised over $1.2 million for humanitarian crises in Haiti, Pakistan, Japan and now in the Horn of Africa.

Quick Facts:

* Earlier this year, over $298,000 was collected for the Canadian Red Cross through BC Liquor Stores to assist Japan following the earthquake/tsunami.

* In addition, BC Liquor Stores has recently participated in Canadian Red Cross relief efforts for Haiti ($345,000) and Pakistan ($210,000).

Contact:

Michele Mackintosh

Manager of Communications

BC Liquor Distribution Branch

604 252-3029

Connect with the Province of B.C. at: www.gov.bc.ca/connect