Southern California Chapters of the Make-A-Wish Foundation(R) Unwrap the 2007 A Season of Wishes(TM) Holiday Campaign

Southern California Chapters of the Make-A-Wish Foundation(R) Unwrap the 2007 A Season of Wishes(TM) Holiday Campaign

  Disney's The Cheetah Girls And Local Wish Children Team Up At The Grove To  Reveal The Key Dates And Wish-Granting Events For The Heartwarming 2007                          Holiday Season Campaign       World Premiere Of Walt Disney Pictures' 'Enchanted' And Lighting    Of The Grove's 100-Foot Christmas Tree To Mark Start Of The Six-Week                                Celebration   

The Make-A-Wish Foundation chapters in Southern California officially unveiled the 2007 A Season of Wishes holiday season campaign today at The Grove, featuring the heartwarming stories of wish children and an appearance by Kiely Williams of The Cheetah Girls.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071102/LAF088)

Preceded by the early morning arrival of The Grove's 100-foot-tall Christmas tree, the event also featured Kelli Seely, president and CEO of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles, Rick Caruso, CEO of Caruso Affiliated and Jeff Hoffman, vice president, Disney Worldwide Outreach. The executives were joined by wish children from previous campaigns and provided the key dates and public wish-granting event details for the Foundation's 2007 A Season of Wishes campaign, which is designed to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy by granting an unprecedented number of wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions.

"Now in its third year, A Season of Wishes provides Southern California residents with numerous opportunities during high-profile events, family activities, celebrity involvement and the public granting of children's wishes to witness how the Foundation brings hope, strength and joy to the hearts of the children they serve," Seely said. "We've received tremendous support for A Season of Wishes each year of our campaign and are looking forward to spreading the excitement and enthusiasm that accompanies each unique wish experience throughout Southern California once again."

The Make-A-Wish Foundation also introduced 6-year-old Abel Chen, a wish child from Diamond Bar, Calif., whose wish to witness a space shuttle launch at Kennedy Center in Florida and hug an astronaut was granted in 2006. Upon his return, Able gave a big hug to Columbia Astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton in a very memorable public wish "welcome back" celebration at The Grove. For this year's campaign, Abel's smiling face is featured in his spacesuit and helmet on all of the 2007 campaign print and online materials, including billboards, brochures, print advertisements and flyers.

A Season of Wishes kicks off with the first public wish granting of the season at the Nov. 17 World Premiere of Walt Disney Pictures' "Enchanted" at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, where a special wish child will be Disney's honored guest to kick off her wish to visit the Walt Disney World(R) Resort in Orlando, Fla.

Over the past 25 years, Disney has continued to support the Make-A-Wish cause, contributing more than $10 million in cash and in-kind donations on an annual basis. This year, Disney will once again show their tremendous support of the Los Angeles community as the Premiere Sponsor of our A Season of Wishes campaign.

"The Walt Disney Company has proudly supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation for the past 27 years, helping to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions around the world," Hoffman said. "We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with the Foundation to brighten the lives of children during this holiday season and alongside Make-A-Wish Los Angeles in this wonderful celebration."

Following the premiere, A Season of Wishes will brighten The Grove's Tree Lighting extravaganza on Nov. 18 with a special wish to kick off "Weekly Wish Nights at The Grove," a six-week celebration that showcases the public granting of a different wish child's heartfelt wish every Tuesday evening.

Southern Californians are encouraged to visit the Web sites of the official media partners for the 2007 A Season of Wishes campaign, FOX 11 (http://www.myfoxla.com/), KSCI-TV (http://www.kscitv.com/), KOST-FM (http://www.kost1035.com/) and Fishbowl LA (http://www.fishbowlla.com/), to learn more about each wish child and their wishes.

Also new to this year's campaign is the Singing for Wishes Songwriting Contest (http://www.singingforwishes.org/), an online contest that gives Southern California residents the chance to perform and submit a new song to be chosen as the campaign's theme song. The songs that receive the most votes will be reviewed by a panel of judges, led by country music star and former wish child Kevin Sharp, who will choose the winning theme song on Dec. 10.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation also acknowledged all of the campaign partners that have committed their support to the 2007 A Season of Wishes campaign, including KTTV-TV (FOX 11 LA), KSCI-TV (LA18), KOST-FM (103.5), Fish Bowl LA, The Grove, Showtime Networks Inc., Multivu, PR Newswire, Cision, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Magazine, Oversee.net, Washington Mutual, Mattel, Frigo Cheese Heads, Michael Stars, Hilton Hotels, Caruso Affiliated and The Walt Disney Company.

About the Make-A-Wish Foundation

The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life- threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Born in 1980, when a group of caring volunteers helped a young boy fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer, the Foundation is now the largest wish-granting charity in the world, with 67 chapters in the United States and its territories. With the help of generous donors and more than 25,000 volunteers, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants a wish every 41 minutes and has granted more than 153,000 wishes in the U.S. since inception.

For more information about your local Make-A-Wish Foundation chapter or to lend your support to A Season of Wishes, visit http://www.aseasonofwishes.org/ or call 1-888-217-WISH.

About Disney's Outreach

Disney brightens the lives of children in need around the world through global outreach programs, local community initiatives and the Disney VoluntEARS program. Last year, Disney donated more than $170 million in cash and in-kind support to various charities around the world. Disney VoluntEARS contributed more than 485,000 hours of service and the company drew upon its unique magic to make wishes come true for children and families. The Disney VoluntEARS program provides opportunities for Disney employees to contribute their time and expertise towards making a positive impact in the communities they serve while furthering the traditions and ideals of The Walt Disney Company. For more information on Disney's outreach efforts, please visit http://www.disneyoutreach.com/

    MEDIA CONTACTS:    Shelley Ginsburg    Make-A-Wish Foundation(R) of Greater Los Angeles    (310) 788-9474    sginsburg@wishla.org     William Ostedt/Lisa Townsend    The Pollack PR Marketing Group    (310) 556-4443    wostedt@ppmgcorp.com    ltownsend@ppmgcorp.com  

PRNewswire -- Nov. 2
First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071102/LAF088
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Source: The Make-A-Wish Foundation

Web site: http://www.aseasonofwishes.org/
http://www.disneyoutreach.com/
http://www.singingforwishes.org/
http://www.fishbowlla.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment