Lee National Denim Day
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lee National Denim Day is a breast cancer one-day charity fundraiser created by Lee Jeans, the famous brand of denim jeans founded in 1889, headquartered in Merriam, Kansas, and owned by the VF Corporation.
Contents |
[edit] Goals and history
Lee National Denim Day is the world's largest single-day fundraiser for breast cancer. One day each year during the National Breast Cancer Month of October, Lee Jeans encourages millions of people nationwide to wear their favorite jeans to work and make a $5.00 donation to support the fight against breast cancer.
In 10 years Lee National Denim Day has raised more than $61 million in the fight against breast cancer. In 2005, people at nearly 30,000 companies and organizations wore denim on Lee National Denim Day.
The fundraiser has been raising millions of dollars since 1995. This year Lee National Denim Day has announced that it will partner with the Women’s Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation [1]. Lee National Denim Day will support groundbreaking early detection and treatment research for breast cancer with application to all women’s cancers, as well as local community breast cancer programs nationwide.
The first ten years of Denim Day have been focused on education and awareness. The second decade of Denim Day will focus on funding specific research projects working to find a cure for breast cancer.
The 2006 spokesperson, Pierce Brosnan, was announced.
[edit] Celebrity spokespersons
- 2006 - Actor Pierce Brosnan, who played British superspy James Bond, has been announced as the 2006 spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day. Brosnan's first wife, Australian actress Cassandra Harris, died due to ovarian cancer, and he has been a cancer advocate ever since.[2]
- 2005 - Actors James Denton and Ricardo Antonio Chavira, stars of the hit TV show Desperate Housewives, joined forces to help raise $8.5 million to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Lee National Denim Day®. The mothers of both actors lost their lives to breast cancer. [3]
- 2004 - Actor Charlie Sheen, star of the hit TV show Two and a Half Men, was the 2004 spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day. A close friend of his lost her life to breast cancer, and Charlie wanted to help find a cure for the disease. [4]
- 2003 - Actress Christina Applegate, who is particularly well-known for playing Kelly Bundy on the sitcom Married... with Children, was the 2003 spokesperson for the Lee National Denim Day. Christina's mother, Nancy Priddy, is a breast cancer survivor. [5]
- 2002 - Actress Melina Kanakaredes, star of the CBS TV show CSI:NY as Detective Stella Bonasera, was the 2002 spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day. A friend of hers was diagnosed with breast cancer. [6]
- 2001 - Actress Lucy Liu, co-star in the film Charlie's Angels and on TV's Ally McBeal, was the 2001 spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day. Liu was once diagnosed with a non-cancerous breast lump. [7]
- 2000 - Actor Rob Lowe, perhaps best known for playing Sam Seaborn in the TV show The West Wing, was the first male spokesperson for the Lee National Denim Day. His grandmother and great-grandmother both suffered from breast cancer. [8]
- 1999 - Actress Patricia Arquette, who stars as the psychic Allison DuBois on NBC's TV show Medium, was the 1999 spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day. Patricia's mother died from breast cancer in 1997. [9]
- 1998 - Actress Yasmine Bleeth, most famous for her acting role as Caroline Holden on the worldwide-syndicated TV show Baywatch, was the 1998 spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day. Yasmine's mother died from inflammatory breast cancer when Yasmine was only 20 years old. [10]
- 1996 - Professional Basketball star Rebecca Lobo, whose mother is a breast cancer survivor, was the 1996 spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day. In 1996, Rebecca and her mother, RuthAnn Lobo, collaborated on a book entitled The Home Team [11], which dealt with RuthAnn's battle with breast cancer. [12]
[edit] Trivia
The manufacturer of Lee Jeans, VF Corporation, is also a leader in the manufacture of intimate apparel such as Vanity Fair®, Vassarette®, Bestform®, and Lily of France®.
[edit] See also
- Lee Jeans
