More than 3,000 athletes will be well-hydrated and well-cared for at the 2007 Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse, thanks in part to Shoppers Drug Mart.

The Canadian drug store chain has joined the Games sponsorship team as the newest Official Supplier. Shoppers will contribute over $250,000 of value in kind, including 200,000 bottles of water for athletes and volunteers.

The sponsorship also includes $100,000 in medical supplies and over-the-counter drugs, which are integral to ensuring proper treatment of the athletes.

Medical supplies will be used in the polyclinic at Yukon College and also in medical rooms at each of the venues.

'I am very pleased this morning to thank Shoppers Drug Mart for coming on board the Games,' said Paul Flaherty, vice-president of sponsorship for the 2007 Games, at a press conference held at the Main Street Shoppers Drug Mart location this morning.

'This partnership will be a great benefit to our Games and brings us that much closer to our fundraising goal. The fact that there are two Shoppers Drug Mart stores here in Whitehorse is nice, they are great local supporters.'

Darrell Pasloski, pharmacist and owner of both Shoppers locations in Whitehorse, said he was originally approached by the Games host society many months ago and gave them the contact information they needed for the national office.

Months went by and the host society still hadn't heard from the national office, so Pasloski picked up the phone himself and spoke with some of the chain's head honchos.

'I talked to them about what this meant to Whitehorse, and what Whitehorse has meant to Shoppers Drug Mart, and they were convinced this was the right thing to do,' stated Pasloski.

Shoppers will also be the presenting sponsor of the synchronized swimming competition during the 2007 Games. Synchronized swimmers will compete during the first week of the Canada Games, February 23 to March 3.

'Shoppers Drug Mart has been a part of the Whitehorse community for 30 years and is proud to be able to support an event so important to our community,' said Pasloski. 'We are also very excited to give back to the North where we have many great and loyal customers.'

The local owner said it's still under discussion how much of the supplies will be donated by the two local branches and how much will come from the national headquarters. He expects it probably won't be worked out until the bills come in after the Games.

The sponsorship by Shoppers brings the total so far for national-level sponsorship over $5 million. The goal is $5.6 million, plus another $2 million in local sponsorship for an overall total of $7.6 million.

Locally, staff have raised $1.4 million, almost 70 per cent of the targeted amount.

Other Official Suppliers of the 2007 Canada Winter Games include Enbridge, Bell Mobility, Atco Group, MKI Sports and Norcan Leasing.