Pierce Brosnan, honorary chair of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), will be serving as ambassador for Lee National Denim Day. The event helps to bring more awareness to the fight against breast cancer and encourage people nationwide to participate. The full report from Prime Zone follows:
As honorary chair of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), Pierce Brosnan, international movie star, producer, artist and activist, has added another title to his list-ambassador for Lee National Denim Day. In this powerful new role, Brosnan will help bring more awareness to the fight against breast cancer and encourage people nationwide to participate in Denim Day.
Pierce Brosnan, serving as the 2006 Ambassador for Lee National Denim Day and Honorary Chairman of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, encourages everyone to don denim October 6, while pledging a $5 donation to support innovative breast cancer research.
A photo accompanying this release is available at http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2712
In a new public service campaign that kicks off the second decade of Lee National Denim Day, Brosnan urges men and women across the country to don denim on October 6, while pledging a $5 donation to support innovative breast cancer research. The fundraising program has raised more than $61 million to support breast cancer programs, and this next decade brings a chance to do even more.
“I’m proud to join Lee Jeans and the Entertainment Industry Foundation in this tremendously important battle to eliminate breast cancer from all our lives,” said Brosnan. “Lee National Denim Day is an easy way for friends and colleagues to unite in support of a groundbreaking scientific project to detect breast cancer in its earliest stage.”
Proceeds from Lee National Denim Day will benefit the Women’s Cancer Programs of EIF. Funds will be used to help accelerate treatment research and increase patient access to some of the most significant clinical trials in the nation, as well as continue to support grassroots programs across the country.
“Lee National Denim Day participants should be incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together the last ten years,” said Liz Cahill, director of advertising and public relations for Lee Jeans. “We couldn’t be more excited to launch the second decade of Denim Day with our new charitable partner EIF, with a commitment to fund some of the most important early detection and treatment research that exists, and with Mr. Brosnan’s help, we know people nationwide will be inspired to act.”
Brosnan, who has lost dear friends to breast cancer, has been a longtime supporter of the cause and currently serves as Honorary Chairman of EIF. As the 2006 Lee National Denim Day ambassador, Brosnan will appear in a national public service campaign and program materials with the hope of raising awareness about breast cancer and the exciting new developments that can have an impact on the millions affected by the disease each year.
Companies, schools or organizations that register by visiting www.denimday.com or calling 1.800.521.5533 will receive a comprehensive participation kit, which includes educational materials about breast cancer in addition to supplies for easy coordination.
Last year, more than 29,000 companies across the nation participated in the single day fundraiser. More than $8.6 million was raised for the fight against breast cancer.
Lee(r) Jeans is a division of VF Corporation. (NYSE:VFC). Headquartered in Merriam, Kan., Lee manufactures and markets brand denim, casual pants, shirts, fleece and knit apparel. A brand committed to the community, Lee Jeans founded Lee National Denim Day(r), the largest single-day fundraiser for breast cancer. VF Corporation is a leader in branded apparel including jeanswear, outdoor products, intimate apparel, image apparel and sportswear. Its principal brands include Lee(r), Wrangler(r), Riders(r), Rustler(r), Vanity Fair(r), Vassarette(r), Bestform(r), Lily of France(r), Nautica(r), John Varvatos(r), JanSport(r), Eastpak(r), The North Face(r), Vans(r), Reef(r), Napapijri(r), Kipling(r), Lee Sport(r) and Red Kap(r).
The Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), as a leading charitable organization of the entertainment industry, has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars to support charitable initiatives addressing critical health, education and social issues.
EIF is committed to saving lives by raising awareness about the importance of early detection of breast and reproductive cancers, and providing funds to advance early detection and treatment research, as well as support to community programs that assist the millions of women and their families at risk of or affected by cancer.
Through EIF’s National Women’s Cancer Research Alliance and EIF’s Revlon Run/Walk For Women, EIF funds some of the most promising research being conducted today to develop new and more effective approaches to the treatment of women’s cancers. EIF grants have helped accelerate research that has contributed to the development of a breakthrough gene treatment called Herceptin(r), the first successful drug that seeks out a particular gene found in one of three cases of the most aggressive form of breast cancer. EIF grants have also supported other state-of-the-art therapies bringing new and innovative treatment approaches to breast cancer worldwide.
More recently, EIF launched its Women’s Cancer Research Fund. Focused on early detection of cancer, the initiative is supporting EIF’s Breast Cancer Biomarker Discovery Project — an ambitious, groundbreaking scientific project where a group of internationally recognized scientists and clinicians from some of the best scientific institutions in the world are collaborating to develop a blood test that will detect breast cancer in its beginning stages, when survival rates are highest.
For questions about EIF’s women’s cancer programs and information about breast cancer, visit eifoundation.org or call 800-426-0010.
Join Lee Jeans, Pierce Brosnan and the Entertainment Industry Foundation in the fight against breast cancer. Wear denim on October 6th, and make a $5 contribution to benefit local breast cancer prevention services, and advance groundbreaking early detection and treatment research at leading cancer centers nationwide. To sign up, call 1-800-521-5533 or visit www.denimday.com .
The photo is also available at NewsCom, www.newscom.com, and via AP PhotoExpress.
Prime Zone
The first annual International Sports & Entertainment Festival was held in Cleveland, Ohio on June 15 – 18, 2006 at the Cleveland Convention Center. David Hedison and Priscilla Barnes, aka Mr. and Mrs. Felix Leiter were among the many actors and athletes in attendance. Another actor in attendance worth mentioning is Adam West. Many know him as my favorite superhero, Batman, from the campy but entertaining ’60s television series, but few know him as one of the guys who turned down the role of James Bond in 
The festival started on Thursday, June 15, 2006 so my father and I walked to the Cleveland Convention Center from his office around one o’clock, an hour after it officially opened. After paying the $15 entry fee, we took two sets of escalators down to the room where the festival was being held. The sports section included many athletes including two former Cleveland Indians players and Cleveland Browns legend Jim Brown and more than a hundred exhibitors selling trading cards, uniforms, bats, balls, bobble heads and other sports memorabilia. I was shocked because I thought we had come to the International Sports & Munsters Festival. Although the entertainment section included a long row of tables for celebrities to sign autographs at and many exhibitor tables selling entertainment memorabilia such as vintage movie posters and autographed pictures, only Butch Patrick, aka Eddie Munster, was signing autographs. All the other tables were empty which meant the celebrities weren’t on a break, they simply weren’t there! The only interesting thing I saw was a guitar signed by all four of the Beatles (earmuffs not included).
