RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J., June 15, 2010 – At its ninth annual gala tonight, Samsung along with its partners and special guest Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, and Matthew McConaughey announced Samsung Hope for Children, the company’s enhanced philanthropic initiative that will replace its existing Four Seasons of Hope program. The new Samsung Hope for Children initiative increases the company’s cause-related marketing focus to have greater impact on the two areas most affecting children: health and education.
Beginning in 2002, Samsung starting working with several elite athletes including sport legends Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason, Arnold Palmer, Eli Manning and NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson in addition to civic personalities like Rudy Giuliani and many of Samsung’s business and retail partners to raise more than $25 million for more than 300 schools, community-based foundations, and charities throughout the U.S.
Given this history and recent studies that have shown how 1 in 5 children* in the United States suffer from a chronic illness, ranging from asthma to cancer and developmental disabilities and how 25%** of secondary school kids cannot read or understand the material in their textbooks, Samsung felt it was time to enhance its efforts of giving back to the community. These statistics prove that there are a large amount of today’s children who are going to be less productive than they could be as adults and Samsung believes it can continue to help make a difference.
This year, Samsung introduced the Dedicated to Wonder marketing campaign for all of its consumer electronics products aiming to provide the wonder of Samsung products to its customers. Now the company is utilizing a similar strategy as it plans to take the existing charitable initiatives to the next level and Share the Wonder with those who need it most. With the announcement of Samsung Hope for Children, the company will strategically focus its efforts on programs dedicated to helping children live, learn, and thrive. This emphasizes Samsung’s long-standing commitment of raising national awareness and funds for deserving foundations, hospitals and schools that make a noticeable difference in communities. In support of Samsung Hope for Children, the company also unveiled a new visual brand identity and website to share these efforts with the community at: www.samsung.com/hope.
“Samsung has been at the forefront of actively addressing social issues in our communities by improving technology in classrooms to partnering with sports, entertainment, and political notables for over nine years,” said CS Choi, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics America Inc. “Samsung Hope for Children will be a natural extension of our corporate philanthropic initiatives by making an investment in the future of one of our country’s most important assets - our children.”
The event was hosted by Regis Philbin, who returned for his sixth Samsung gala, and featured a roster of celebrities including a special performance by American actress, singer, record producer, and fashion designer, Jennifer Lopez, and her husband five-time Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter, Marc Anthony. The couple gave a live performance to more than 700 guests in attendance where Lopez’s Maribel Foundation - which falls within Samsung’s health platform, benefitted from the evening’s event. Other celebrities included Matthew McConaughey who was on hand to promote the j.k. livin foundation– which becomes part of Samsung’s education platform and is dedicated to helping teenage kids lead active lives and make healthy choices to become great men and women.
“Marc and I started the Maribel Foundation after a situation close to home helped us realize that there are parents out there who are not able to provide their children with the proper medical attention,” said Jennifer Lopez. “It’s great to be able to work with a partner like Samsung Hope for Children that is truly passionate about making a difference for children-related foundations like ours,” added Marc Anthony.
“I had an idea that by giving kids hope and pointing them in a positive direction, we could provide the raw materials to help change their lives,” stated Matthew McConaughey during his speech at the Samsung gala. “That’s what the j.k. livin foundation after-school program is all about, and thanks to special partners like Samsung we can continue to create an environment that makes kids feel safe.”
To learn more about Samsung Hope for Children initiative visit: www.samsung.com/hope, you can also check out the Samsung Hope for Children Facebook Hope tab at www.facebook.com/SamsungUSA. If you would like to show your support to benefit Samsung Hope for Children you can bid on exclusive charitable items available for auction on charitybuzz: http://www.charitybuzz.com/auctions/samsung until June 23rd. Some of the highlight items include: a motorcycle autographed by QB legends: Joe Montana, Dan Marino, John Elway, Boomer Esiason, Joe Theismann, Jim Kelly and Steve Young or an Eli Manning meet n’ greet opportunity with 4 front row seats at a game, autographed jersey and football.
About Samsung Electronics America, Inc.
Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (SEA), based in Ridgefield Park, NJ, is a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. The company markets a broad range of award-winning consumer electronics, information systems, and home appliance products, as well as oversees all of Samsung’s North American operations including Samsung Telecommunications America, LP, Samsung Semiconductor Inc., Samsung Electronics Canada, Inc. and Samsung Electronics Mexico, Inc. As a result of its commitment to innovation and unique design, the Samsung organization is one of the most decorated brands in the electronics industry. The company was ranked #19 in BusinessWeek/Interbrand “100 Best Global Brands,” and named as one of Fast Company’s “50 Most Innovative Companies of 2010.” For more information, please visit www.samsung.com. You can also Fan Samsung on www.Facebook.com/SamsungUSA or follow Samsung via Twitter @SamsungTweets.
About Best Buy Co., Inc.
With operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, China and Mexico, Best Buy is a multinational retailer of technology and entertainment products and services with a commitment to growth and innovation. The Best Buy family of brands and partnerships collectively generates more than $45 billion in annual revenue and includes brands such as Best Buy; Audiovisions; The Carphone Warehouse; Future Shop; Geek Squad, Jiangsu Five Star; Magnolia Audio Video; Napster; Pacific Sales; The Phone House; and Speakeasy. Approximately 155,000 employees apply their talents to help bring the benefits of these brands to life for customers through retail locations, multiple call centers and Web sites, in-home solutions, product delivery and activities in its communities. Community partnership is central to the way business is done at Best Buy. In fiscal 2009, Best Buy donated a combined $33.4 million to improve the vitality of the communities where its employees and customers live and work. For more information about Best Buy, visit www.bestbuy.com.
* Center for Disease Control: http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/pdf/2010/healthy_communities_2010.pdf
** National Council of Teachers of English: http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Positions/Adol-Lit-Brief.pdf
