Renowned Giftmaker Russ Berrie Urges People To ?Give Your Heart To Someone In Need? On Valentines Day
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Jennifer Boutote Carolyn Conway (212) 656-5923 (212) 305-3900 ***MEDIA ALERT*** RENOWNED GIFTMAKER RUSS BERRIE URGES PEOPLE TO “GIVE YOUR HEART TO SOMEONE IN NEED” ON VALENTINE’S DAY Russ Berrie and Company, Inc. (NYSE: RUS) Chairman, Founder and CEO Invites Children Being Treated at the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center to Join Him as He Rings the Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange WHAT: On Valentine’s Day—a day when people all over the world celebrate love—Russ Berrie and Company, Inc. (NYSE: RUS) Chairman, Founder and CEO Russ Berrie will urge people everywhere to “give your heart to someone in need” by ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. WHO: Mr. Berrie, one of the world’s most generous corporate philanthropists, will be joined on the bell podium with his wife Angelica and four children who are being treated at a facility largely funded by his contributions--the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia-Presbyterian. The patients include 6-year-old Jordan Gershenson, 9-year-old Jonathan Kukin, 10-year-old Larry Sorrel and 11-year-old David Kukin. WHY: Mr. Berrie, who has diabetes himself, is taking advantage of the Valentine’s Day holiday to honor four children who, like him, must take treatment every day for their diabetes. “It’s a disease never takes a vacation,” Mr. Berrie says. “If you know someone with diabetes, please reach out to them with your compassion and support. These brave children—and everyone else in the world who has diabetes—need encouragement to help them wage their daily battles against this disease.” WHEN: Wednesday, February 14, 2001 9 a.m. media enters through 18 Broad St. 9:30 a.m. opening bell rings Mr. Berrie will be available for interviews between 9:40 and 10:30 a.m. WHERE: New York Stock Exchange – between Wall Street and Exchange Place PHOTOS/VIDEO: Photos will be available via Associated Press/New York (212/621-1902). The opening bell (starting at 9:25 a.m.) feed can be accessed by fiber line at Waterfront #1630. The NYSE Daily News Feed is available from 2:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. (EST) via satellite at Telstar 6, Transponder 4, C-Band, Audio 6.2 and 6.8 and by fiber line at Waterfront #1630. A re-broadcast of the NYSE Daily News Feed is also available following the closing bell feed (starting at 3:55 p.m.) and can be accessed by fiber line at Waterfront #1630. BACKGROUND: Russ Berrie and Company, Inc. is headquartered in Oakland, New Jersey. The company designs, develops and distributes more than 6,000 seasonal and everyday gift products to retailers worldwide. Its diverse range of products includes everything from teddy bears and stuffed animals to baby gifts, picture frames, candles, figurines and home décor gifts. “The Care Until the Cure”: It's more than a motto; it defines the very purpose of the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center. Just a few short years ago, access to comprehensive, multidisciplinary diabetes care was not available in New York -- a city that prides itself for providing the best medical care in the world. Now, thanks to the generous contributions of Russ Berrie, and others, a new standard of diabetes care is available to the 1.6 million people with diabetes in the New York area. The Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia-Presbyterian--named after Russ Berrie's mother who, like her son, had diabetes--was established in July 1997. It opened in its permanent space at the Russ Berrie Medical Science Pavilion at Columbia-Presbyterian in October 1998. ### |