Virgin Megastores Unite With ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History

Virgin Megastores Unite With ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History

Virgin Megastore Chain Partner With International Organizations for One Day Event to Help Fight Global AIDS and Extreme Poverty

LOS ANGELES, June 23 /PRNewswire/ -- More than one billion people live on less than $1 a day with few opportunities to earn more. Each day over 8,500 people lose their lives as a result of AIDS. These realities are why Virgin Entertainment Group, North America, is uniting with ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History. In an effort to rally music and entertainment fans and empower them to become active in the global fight against AIDS and extreme poverty, Virgin Entertainment Group is hosting an event on June 29th at Virgin Megastore, Union Square in New York City, where representatives of ONE will be on hand to educate and engage Virgin customers to act and join forces with ONE.

Customers can pick up ONE White Bands -- the symbol of the campaign -- and make a personal commitment by signing the ONE Declaration. More than 800,000 Americans are now sporting the White Band and getting active in the campaign. In the next two weeks, the leaders of the world's wealthiest nations will meet at the G8 summit in Scotland and ONE is mobilizing Americans to send President Bush to this meeting with a clear message:

* Help the poorest people of the world fight poverty, AIDS at a cost equal to just ONE percent more of the US budget on a clear timetable;

* Cancel 100% of the debts owed by the poorest countries;

* Reform trade rules so poor countries can earn sustainable incomes. More than 175,000 Americans have signed a letter to President Bush supporting an historic deal for Africa at the G8 Summit.

In support of ONE, Virgin Megastore, Union Square, is lining up in-store performances with surprise guest artists who will show their support in person on the 29th. "Michelle Shocked will be signing copies and performing songs from her latest CD 'Threesome' at 5:00 PM. Warner Brothers band, Head Automatica, with Daryl Palumbo, formerly of Glassjaw, will also be signing copies and performing songs from their debut album 'Decadence' featuring 'Beating Heart Baby' at 6:00 PM. More artists will be announced shortly." On June 19th, the Virgin Megastore chain began selling ONE White Bands for $1 to highlight the emergency nationwide. Free information literature will be available to customers at all Virgin Megastores. Virgin will also help to communicate ONE's goals through in-store end cap displays and store signage.

About Virgin Entertainment Group

Virgin Entertainment Group is the world's leading multi-channel music and entertainment retailer, providing customers with a range of superior entertainment experiences through a family of integrated Virgin-branded businesses. The "category killer" Virgin Megastores and Virgin Megastore Online at www.virginmega.com are integral parts of a strategy to provide entertainment customers with what they want, how they want it, and when they want it. For more information, or to check out the location of the nearest Virgin retail, go to www.virginmegamagazine.com

About ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History

ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History is a coalition of the nation's leading relief and advocacy organizations. Founded by Bread for the World, CARE, DATA, International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Oxfam America, Plan USA, Save the Children US, World Concern, and World Vision, ONE is committed to rally Americans ONE by ONE against global AIDS and extreme poverty. For more information, visit www.ONE.ORG.

Source: Virgin Entertainment Group

CONTACT: Krysty O'Quinn of SJ Communications, +1-818-881-3889, Krysty@sjcommunications.com, for Virgin Megastore; or Christopher Lagan of ONE, +1-202-639-8010, Christopher@data.org

Web site: http://www.virginmegamagazine.com/

Web site: http://www.virginmega.com/ http://www.one.org/

NOTE TO EDITORS: Press members wanting to attend/cover the June 29th in-store event or Virgin's involvement with The ONE Campaign, please contact: Krysty O'Quinn, SJ Communications, 818.881.3889 or Krysty@sjcommunications.com

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