NEW YORK, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Working together with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, celebrities such as Antonio Banderas, Jimmy Buffett, Sheryl Crow, Hilary Duff, Queen Latifah, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tiger Woods, Ray Romano, Will Smith, Faith Hill, and Robin Williams will join Marlo Thomas and more than 50 national corporations and businesses to make this holiday season not just about shopping and buying gifts, but about giving to save children’s lives.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital announced today the launch of the St. Jude Thanks & Giving campaign, a national program that encourages consumers to show their thanks for the children in their lives who are healthy while giving to those children who are not, with the hope that someday all children will be healthy. Beginning the day after Thanksgiving, Friday, November 26, 2004, consumers are encouraged to shop where they see the St. Jude Thanks & Giving logo in stores, malls and online shopping sites; proceeds from designated purchases will benefit St. Jude. This is all part of the first annual St. Jude Thanks & Giving campaign, which will continue throughout the holiday season.
The campaign will be supported by network television spots, advertisements in major publications, a movie trailer that will run in 20,000 theaters nationwide, and a new book and CD. Stores and businesses nationwide will offer ways for customers to support the work of St. Jude -- which touches the lives of children in every community in the country and around the world -- and help in the battle against cancer and other catastrophic childhood diseases.
What Can You Do To Help? 1. Shop where you see our logo. Thanks & Giving partners have a number of different ways for the public to support St. Jude. For example, you can purchase gift cards from Target Stores and American Express. At stores like The Athlete’s Foot and CVS/pharmacy, you can add a donation at the register. Specialty items, like plush teddy bears are available at 7-Eleven stores and Kay Jewelers. And many participating malls are offering holiday ornaments decorated with artwork by St. Jude patients. 2. Shop at http://www.thanksandgiving.com/. The Thanks & Giving web site offers many exciting holiday gifts, such as the full line of “hope.” products, including the DKNY Jeans “hope.” t-shirt, and “hope.” jewelry and baseball caps. There’s also Liz Claiborne bags and beaded wristlets; holiday ornaments and cards by famed Brazilian artist Romero Britto; an assortment of key chains, notebooks, agendas and photo albums from Nine West; “Jude” the bear; and gift cards. 3. Make a donation. Support the work of St. Jude by making a donation at http://www.thanksandgiving.com/. 4. Purchase Marlo Thomas’ New Thanks & Giving Book and CD. The book and CD entitled Thanks & Giving All Year Long, include original works from award-winning children’s authors, illustrators and celebrities. All royalties from the sale of the book and CD will benefit St. Jude. 5. Tell a friend. Help spread the word about St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Thanks & Giving program by sharing it with your family, friends and neighbors.
“Just by doing the shopping you already plan to do, you can help save a child’s life this holiday season,” says Marlo Thomas, National Outreach Director for St. Jude. “While you’re out in the malls, or shopping online, just look for the St. Jude Thanks & Giving shopping-bag logo. You’ll not only be doing your regular holiday shopping, you’ll also be giving to children everywhere whose lives are being saved everyday by the research being done at St. Jude.”
Partners/Where Consumers Can Shop
For the Thanks & Giving holiday season campaign, stores such as Target, 7- Eleven, CVS/pharmacy, Kay Jewelers, The Athlete’s Foot, T.J. Maxx, Hecht’s, Nine West, Toys “R” Us, The Bombay Company and Sears Portrait Studio, as well as corporations like The Walt Disney Company, American Express, American Airlines, Amazon, Yahoo!, AOL, Ticketmaster, Harrah’s Entertainment, Domino’s Pizza and FedEx, will give customers a host of opportunities to support this national initiative. Whether through the purchase of a gift card, teddy bears, St. Jude patient-designed merchandise or a donation at checkout counters, shoppers will be lending help to the ongoing research of pediatric cancer and other deadly diseases.
The centerpiece of the Thanks & Giving holiday season campaign is a new book and CD that Thomas has created, which in the spirit of her much-loved classic Free to Be ... You And Me, includes stories, songs and poems for “children and the grown-ups in their lives.” Entitled Thanks & Giving All Year Long, the book and CD include original works from award-winning children’s authors and illustrators, as well as contributions by Billy Crystal, James Earl Jones, Paul Newman, Jennifer Aniston, Jimmy Buffett, Tiger Woods, Robin Williams, Sheryl Crow, Faith Hill, Mel Brooks, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ray Romano, Hilary Duff, Whoopi Goldberg, Julianne Moore, Frankie Muniz and Kermit the Frog. All royalties from the sale of the book and CD will benefit St. Jude.
“The book and CD celebrate giving and sharing,” says Thomas, “and it also makes fun of their opposites -- like stinginess and selfishness. It’s about family holidays -- those that work out and those that are a disaster. It’s about presents -- some that are great and some that are not so great. It’s about the funny side, as well as the joyous side, of thanks and giving.” The book also features artwork from such acclaimed illustrators as Maurice Sendak, The Simpsons’ Matt Groening and Arthur creator, Marc Brown.
About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Founded by late entertainer Danny Thomas, St. Jude has treated children from every state in the U.S. and from more than 70 foreign countries.
* St. Jude opened its doors in 1962 and sees approximately 200 children per day. * St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world. * No child is ever turned away for a family’s inability to pay. * St. Jude has increased the survival rate of the most common form of childhood cancer, ALL, from 4 percent when the hospital opened to 86 percent today. * St. Jude has become the nation’s third largest healthcare charity, supporting a daily operating cost of $1 million. * Eighty-five cents of every dollar received goes directly to patient care, research, education and training.
More information is available at the St. Jude Thanks & Giving website (http://www.thanksandgiving.com/), where visitors can view the celebrity spots, learn about the corporate partners, buy unique merchandise designed by the patients at St. Jude, meet some of the patients, and enjoy a special kids section with interactive games and information on how kids can give back to kids in need.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
CONTACT: Nicholas Scibetta of Ketchum, +1-646-935-4067,Nicholas.Scibetta@ketchum.com, for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; orDeidre Malone of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, +1-901-578-2362,thanksandgiving@stjude.org
Web site: http://www.thanksandgiving.com/