4.08.2008 - 12:00pm ET

(CSRwire) VANCOUVER, BC – April 8, 2008 – For the month of April, Esso customers can show their support for BC's kids by purchasing a BC Children's Hospital Sunshine icon at British Columbia Esso locations. Esso hopes to raise $100,000 for the 21st annual BC Children's Hospital Miracle Weekend.

The icons are available throughout April for $2 each at 90 Esso-branded retail stations and On the Run stores in BC.

"We are proud to support BC Children's Hospital," says Imperial Oil Limited Retail Sales Manager Joe Calderone. "It provides vital health services to the children of British Columbia and the Yukon."

In addition to the Sunshine icon sales, Esso retailers in conjunction with the Esso Community Fund are donating $35,000 to sponsor various BC Children's Hospital Foundation community events, such as the 2008 HSBC Childrun.

Esso is a gold sponsor of the 23rd annual HSBC Childrun, taking place on June 1, 2008 to raise funds for childhood cancer research. This year approximately 4,000 people are expected to run or walk a 1-km or 5-km route. The run has raised over $2 million since 1985.

"We're delighted to have Esso join us in our efforts to ensure BC's kids continue to receive the quality of medical care they deserve," says President and Chief Executive Officer of BC Children's Hospital Foundation Sue Carruthers. "By raising awareness of Childrun and raising money for BC Children's Hospital, Esso retailers are demonstrating their commitment to BC's children and communities."

Donations to the Miracle Weekend go directly to Children's Hospital to support the purchase of life-saving equipment, research into the treatment, prevention and cures of childhood diseases, recruitment and educational programs for caregivers and programs in communities throughout the province. Children's Hospital is the province's only full-service pediatric acute-care hospital of its kind serving more than one million children living in BC and the Yukon.

About Imperial Oil

With goals of being an active member of the community and building a lifelong learning system in Canada that ranks among the best in the world, Imperial Oil Limited has been contributing to communities across Canada for more than 127 years. Imperial Oil contributed more than $11 million to enhance the well-being of communities across Canada in 2007; building on a tradition of corporate giving that began with the company's inception in 1880.

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