Survivor Host Jeff Probst, Nicole Richie, Steve Carrell and More Team Up With Chili's Grill & Bar To 'Create A Pepper' To Fight Childhood Cancer

Survivor Host Jeff Probst, Nicole Richie, Steve Carrell and More Team Up With Chili's Grill & Bar To 'Create A Pepper' To Fight Childhood Cancer

One-of-a-Kind Celebrity Designed Peppers up for Bid on eBay To Benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

-- Log onto www.ebay.com/chilis to bid to own your favorite celebrity-designed pepper! Charity auction runs throughout September --

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Celebrities have teamed up with Chili's Grill & Bar and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital(R) to help fight childhood cancer. For the first time ever, one-of-a-kind Chili's signature pepper pinups that have been decorated and autographed by a host of celebrities will be up for bid online at www.ebay.com/chilis. The "Create a Pepper to Fight Childhood Cancer" charity auction went live on September 1, 2005, and will run throughout the month of September - National Childhood Cancer Month.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050909/CLF004 )

Fans are encouraged to log on to http://www.ebay.com/chilis to view pepper creations from a host of celebrities and bid to own one or more of the fun pepper designs including "Think Out of the Box" and "Underwater Pepper" by Ashton Kutcher, "Senor Pepper" by Reese Witherspoon, "Virgin Pepper" by Steve Carrell as well as designs by Jeff Probst, Minnie Driver, Carmen Electra, Jay Leno, Nicole Richie, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and more.

Each celebrity pepper listing will run for 10 days; new celebrity peppers will be available each Monday through September 19. The charity auction will conclude on September 30 with 100 percent of the net proceeds benefiting St. Jude to help children with cancer and other catastrophic childhood diseases.

The celebrity pepper charity auction is part of Chili's "Create a Pepper to Fight Childhood Cancer" campaign conducted throughout September, which is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. As part of the nationwide campaign, guests at participating U.S. locations can donate $1 or more to color a pinup of the signature Chili's pepper, which will be displayed in the restaurant for the duration of the promotion. In addition, Chili's will donate 100 percent of its profits from all lunch and dinner sales on Monday, September 26, to St. Jude.

For the second year, Jeff Probst, host and producer of the Emmy(TM) Award- winning CBS-TV series Survivor, will serve as spokesperson for the campaign. "It couldn't be easier to have a positive impact on children who are fighting cancer," said Probst during a visit to the hospital.

Last year, Chili's raised more than $2.5 million through its 850 company- owned and franchised U.S. locations. For more information, to create a pepper online, or to purchase a "Create a Pepper" T-shirt, visit http://www.createapepper.com/.

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 the late entertainer Danny Thomas and based in Memphis, Tennessee, St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world. No family ever pays for treatments not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay. St. Jude is financially supported by ALSAC, its fund-raising organization. For more information, please visit http://www.stjude.org/.

About Chili's Grill & Bar

Chili's Grill & Bar offers a fun, energetic atmosphere and a distinct, fresh mix of grilled American favorites in more than 1,000 locations in 24 countries. Chili's is part of Dallas-based Brinker International (NYSE:EAT), a recognized leader in casual dining. Other Brinker restaurant concepts include Romano's Macaroni Grill, On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, Maggiano's Little Italy, Corner Bakery Cafe and Rockfish Seafood Grill.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050909/CLF004 AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/ PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Source: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

CONTACT: Tara Dhar of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, +1-323-650-9360, or cell, +1-323-940-9434, or tara.dhar@stjude.org

Web site: http://www.stjude.org/ http://www.createapepper.com/ http://www.ebay.com/chilis

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