Young Patients Get Sweet Surprise from Garfield and Russell Stover

Russell Stover Candies and Garfield donated 25,000 boxes of Valentine candy to youngsters in children's hospitals today.

(PRWEB) February 16, 2002 --Youngsters in childrens hospitals will receive a sweet Valentine gift from Russell Stover Candies and Garfield tomorrow.

Working with the National Association of Childrens Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI), Russell Stover employees organized the delivery of 25,000 2-ounce heart-shaped candy boxes to 200 hospitals. Each box, containing four chocolates, is decorated with a Garfield Valentine Day motif and a soft Garfield toy.
John OHara, marketing director for Russell Stover said, I have to give credit for this wonderful idea to my wife, Linda. She is on the board of the St. Louis Childrens Hospital and asked if we could donate candy for the children on Valentines Day. I loved her idea and thought it would be fantastic to do the same for all the children hospitalized throughout the United States."

OHara found NACHRI via the Internet and found an enthusiastic partner in Louise Baldwin, member services. NACHRI is a not-for-profit membership organization of children's hospitals, large pediatric units of medical centers and related health systems, including those that specialize in rehabilitative care of children with serious chronic or congenital illnesses.

Russell Stover Candies is the largest producer of fine boxed chocolates in the United States. They sell in more than 50 company owned retail shops and in nearly 90,000 retail locations throughout the fifty states, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Garfield, the lasagna and candy-loving fat cat, is the brainchild of cartoonist Davis, a native of Indiana. The fat cat and his cartoonist will celebrate the strips 25th year in syndication in 2003, having debuted on June 19, 1978, in just 41 U.S. newspapers. Today, Garfield is the most widely syndicated comic strip in the world, appearing in 2,570 newspapers, with an estimated 263 million readers.
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