The Press Wire

MIELEC, Poland, March 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. and PZL Mielec, its company in Poland, today announced the completion of final assembly on the first S-70i™ BLACK HAWK helicopter, an international variant of the BLACK HAWK helicopter. This new international variant is the first BLACK HAWK helicopter assembled in Europe using a global supply chain. Sikorsky Aircraft is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. ( UTX).

The helicopter, a new aircraft in the Sikorsky product line, also is the first rotor wing aircraft to be produced at PZL Mielec, a longtime fixed wing manufacturer in Poland.

The aircraft, fully assembled at PZL Mielec, will be tested and qualified at Sikorsky’s Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. Production flight tests are planned at PZL Mielec later this year as that facility continues to undergo modernization.

The milestone completion took place almost exactly three years to the day of PZL Mielec’s acquisition.

“In just three years, PZL Mielec has become a world-class facility capable of producing one of the finest utility helicopters operating today, the BLACK HAWK helicopter,” said Robert Kokorda, Sikorsky Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Synergy. “The production of the S-70i BLACK HAWK helicopter here is expected to further the growing network of Polish companies participating in the building of BLACK HAWK aircraft for the world.”

PZL Mielec is planned to be the centerpiece of the S-70i BLACK HAWK helicopter program for international customers. Debra A. Zampano, S-70i Program Manager, International Military Programs, said, “Our innovative company spirit is alive and well, and the S-70i BLACK HAWK helicopter is an example of the collaboration of superb workmanship, advanced technology and pioneering legacy. With the S-70i BLACK HAWK helicopter officially joining the Sikorsky product family today, we look forward to seeing this aircraft take its rightful place in the global community as a BLACK HAWK helicopter for all nations.”

Plans call for approximately 20 S-70i BLACK HAWK helicopters to be produced per year, beginning in 2012.

Janusz Zakrecki, President of PZL Mielec added, “As we witness the unveiling of the first BLACK HAWK helicopter built in Poland, we are sharing the pride in this significant milestone as it signals the important contributions of PZL Mielec to the global aerospace marketplace. This aircraft is a product of the long line of BLACK HAWK helicopters that have become the most battle-proven helicopter in the world. As we continue in this tradition, Mielec today takes a major step in leading Poland’s aerospace industry into the future, with a proven aircraft that is ready to meet Polish requirements and enhance European military helicopter fleets.”

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., based in Stratford, Conn., USA, is a world leader in helicopter design, manufacture and service. United Technologies Corp., based in Hartford, Conn., USA, provides a broad range of high technology products and support services to the aerospace and building systems industries.

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning potential production and sale of helicopters. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to changes in government procurement priorities and practices, budget plans or availability of funding or in the number of aircraft to be built; challenges in the design, development, production and support of advanced technologies; as well as other risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed from time to time in United Technologies Corporation’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

SOURCE Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.

RELATED LINKS
http://www.sikorsky.com

Now available in stores and online at Walmart.com

BENTONVILLE, Ark., March 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — With the first day of spring just weeks away, many families are looking to update their home decor with the latest styles, without digging deep into their pockets. Now, making a few changes to create a new look is something that everyone can affordably achieve. The addition of accent pieces – reflective of current colors, textures and designs – can quickly transform a room. In order to offer families a full range of design solutions, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) today announced the launch of its new Hometrends line available in most stores and on Walmart.com.

Hometrends bedding, bath, dining, furniture, home decor and accessories reflect the newness of the season and capture a sense of style with modern, nature and global influences. Whether updating a living room, bedroom, dining area or bathroom, customers can choose from a variety of colors of the moment and contemporary patterns to decorate a room that shows off their style. Nature-inspired materials and finishes lend a unique feel to the line, while inspiration from global influences and modern geometrics are trend-right and current. From bold toss pillows and area rugs to fashion-forward accents, Hometrends makes it possible for anyone to transform a room with the latest styles for less. Customers can visit Walmart.com today to see the full collection and redesign virtual living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms using new Hometrends products.

Sample items(1) include:

• Decorative accessories under $15
• Rugs starting at $11
• Bedding starting at $39.96
• Dinnerware sets starting at $35, with coordinating placemats starting at $3

“The Hometrends line helps Walmart provide an affordable solution for customers who crave great style but don’t want to break the bank to achieve it,” said Karen Stuckey, Senior Vice President of Home at Walmart. “By offering the colors and the trends of the moment, Walmart enables do-it-yourself decorators to embrace their creativity to dramatically change a room with ease, confidence, and minimal investment.”

*Our stores will match the price of any local competitor’s printed ad for an identical product. Not applicable to Walmart.com. Restrictions apply. See store for details.

(1) Prices and availability may vary by store and on walmart.com.

About Walmart

Every week, millions of customers visit Walmart stores, Neighborhood Markets, and Sam’s Club locations across America or log on to its online store at www.walmart.com. The company and its Foundation are committed to a philosophy of giving back locally. Walmart (NYSE: WMT) is proud to support the causes that are important to customers and associates right in their own neighborhoods, and last year gave more than $378 million to local communities in the United States. More information about Walmart can be found by visiting www.walmartstores.com.

SOURCE Walmart

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http://www.walmart.com

VALPARAISO, Chile (March 10, 2010) /PRNewswire/ — Children International, a U.S.-based humanitarian organization, is allocating $100,000 in emergency funds to repair homes damaged by the recent 8.8 earthquake in Chile. Those resources will be delivered to the families immediately.

The charity also announces it has created a fund for those interested in helping Children International rebuild homes that have been damaged or destroyed. Children International stated that 100% of the donations raised will go to rebuilding the homes of earthquake survivors.

Children International’s President and CEO Jim Cook said, “Now is the time to look to the future, and help victims rebuild their lives and homes. Children International has staff and volunteers on the ground to make a difference.”

Children International helps support 17,000 impoverished children and their families in Chile. The charity works to help marginalized, needy children and their families in and around the cities of Valparaíso and Viña del Mar., The organization provides medical and dental care, medicines, nutritional support, educational supplies and community development programs to poor children and will continue to work tirelessly to address emergency needs and comfort those children and families that are victims of the earthquake and its many aftershocks.

About Children International:

Established in 1936, Children International is a humanitarian organization with its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Children International’s programs benefit more than 335,000 children and their families in 11 countries around the world, including Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Zambia, Honduras, India, the Philippines and the United States. For more information about Children International or to sponsor a child, visit www.children.org

WASHINGTON, March 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The National League of Cities President, Ronald Loveridge, mayor of Riverside, California, releases the following statement in response to the Jobs for America Act introduced today. Statistics and research demonstrating the vital need for the legislation is also included after the statement.

“I would like to thank the Congressmen for their leadership in sponsoring this vitally important bill. This is a key piece of legislation that comes as cities face the worst of the economic storm, with revenues down and service needs at their highest. Our research at the National League of Cities shows the ability of cities to meet their financial needs is now in jeopardy and will most likely worsen substantially through the rest of 2010.

“The actions of cities are not insignificant, as collectively we are the nation’s fourth largest employer. The economy cannot recover quickly if cities falter, and so federal action now is essential.

“Cities continue to make the difficult choices of cutting services and furloughing workers. We are now beginning to see cities cut fire and police services – activities essential to the quality of life and safety of citizens in our communities. Traditionally, this is an option of last resort, and only serves to demonstrate the arduous situation facing cities.

“The central focus and approach of this new legislation is something that we at the National League of Cities have advocated for some time.

“It will provide much needed assistance to cities as they seek to protect public safety and avoid laying off municipal workers, which would only dig a deeper hole out of which America’s economy would have to climb. It also will help build a foundation for future growth by making available funds to cities that can be used to create useful jobs in both municipal and nonprofit agencies, and in the process put large numbers of unemployed Americans back to work.

“This bill will be one of the National League of Cities’ top priorities next week at our conference when we meet with administration officials and have our members meet with Members of Congress.

“We are looking forward to working with the Congress and the President to pass this much needed, and enormously helpful job creation measure.”

Background information:

While the nation’s economy may be approaching the late stages of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, local government budget tightening and spending cuts over the next several years could well impose a significant drag on the nation’s economic recovery.

According to the latest NLC research brief, issued in January, cities face layoffs, canceled contracts with small businesses and vendors, reduced services and sizable budget shortfalls for 2009 that are expected to grow much more severe and widespread from 2010 to 2012.

With the pace of recovery still sluggish, the consequences of the recession will be playing out in America’s cities and towns, on Main Street and in the lives of families for years to come. Among the findings:

• The municipal sector will likely face shortfalls between $56 billion and $83 billion in 2010-2012.
• The low point for cities in any recession is typically two years after the onset of the recession of the economy at large.
• This indicates the low point for cities will be 2011.
• Cities are responding with layoffs, furloughs, payroll deductions, capital infrastructure delays and cancellations, and cutting services.
• State aid to cities will be cut in the range of $21 billion to $30 billion in 2010-2012.
• 91% of cities cut spending in 2009, with 82% expecting to make more cuts this year.
• 14% of cities have already cut public safety services.
• Using a variety of data points, NLC calculates the state and local cuts will translate into layoffs of 600,000-700,000 people in 2010 and another 900,000 in 2012 in state, local and private sectors.

The National League of Cities is the nation’s oldest and largest organization devoted to strengthening and promoting cities as centers of opportunity, leadership and governance. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages, representing more than 218 million Americans. www.nlc.org.

SOURCE National League of Cities

PLAINSBORO, N.J., March 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — CMC Energy Services won top prize Friday for Outstanding Energy Savings and Quality of Work serving low-income families in New Jersey’s Comfort Partners program. The award was presented at the Affordable Comfort, Inc. (ACI) Conference and Awards Banquet, the state’s premier event for high performance, energy efficient homes. The award was based on earning the highest estimated energy savings and highest inspection ratings per home in the Comfort Partners category, New Jersey’s energy saving and education program for qualified low-income customers. The conference was held at the Trump Plaza Hotel in Atlantic City, March 4 and 5.

CMC has helped over 3,500 New Jersey low-income customers save energy and money and live more comfortably. Since 2005 CMC has administered the state’s Comfort Partners program for PSE&G, JCP&L and Elizabethtown Gas. Program services include performing comprehensive energy audits, educating the customer about how to efficiently manage their energy use, and overseeing the installation of energy efficient home improvements, including insulation, blower-door guided air-sealing, duct sealing, refrigerator replacement, HVAC maintenance, and efficient lighting. CMC runs a full call center, performs test-in test-out quality control inspections and provides evaluation, measurement and verification reporting services.

All efficiency measures and energy education services are provided free of charge through New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities and Clean Energy Program. The Comfort Partners Program is available to any New Jersey household with significant use, having an income at or below 225% of the federal poverty guidelines.

Said Eileen McGinnis, President of CMC: “Working in partnership with families to help them reduce their energy bills and help New Jersey meet its carbon reduction goals has been a tremendously rewarding experience. We have worked with PSE&G for 30 years and their programs have always stood out. We are thrilled to receive this recognition.”

“We are proud to have such strong representation of New Jersey builders, contractors and installers in the clean energy industry,” said BPU President Lee A. Solomon. “New Jersey is on the forefront of the green building industry and will continue to help residents save money, energy and the environment.”

About CMC Energy Services

CMC has conducted over 325,000 energy audits nationwide since 1977. Its core business is the design and implementation of energy efficiency programs for utilities, government agencies and thousands of households throughout the United States. The company’s long track record has allowed it to expand its focus to offer in-class energy audit training nationwide. CMC has trained 2,000 energy auditors over the past five years.

SOURCE CMC Energy Services

RELATED LINKS
http:/www.cmcenergy.com

App delivers six voice-powered features including email, SMS paste, Facebook & Twitter updates, Google Maps, search the web and voice dial

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. (March 4, 2010) /PRNewswire/ — Vlingo Corporation today launched an enhanced version of its popular Vlingo for iPhone App, which is now available on the App Store. The app gives users the ability to send email and text messages simply by speaking into their iPhone. Unlike speech recognition apps that offer a single use only, Vlingo delivers up to six voice-powered features including: email, SMS Paste, social site updates, maps and voice dial. Vlingo for iPhone supports North American & UK English.

“Over the last year, millions of iPhone users who experienced the convenience and safety of our voice-powered app have asked for more ways to use it on the go,” said Dave Grannan, President & CEO at Vlingo. “Adding email and SMS Paste were natural extensions for busy users who want to experience better, faster ways to communicate. Now, with a single app, it’s easy to send an email or text, call a friend, search the web, update Facebook or Twitter, and use Google Maps simply by speaking into your iPhone.”

Feature enhancements include:

• EMAIL: send an email by speaking a contact, subject and message body. For example, “Email Chris, Subject Tonight, Message Running a bit late!”
• SMS Paste: send a text message by speaking a contact and message. Simply say, “Text Mike, Message How are you?
• SEARCH: in addition to Google and Yahoo! search, Vlingo has added Bing to the mix. Just say, “Bing sushi restaurants in San Francisco,” and view results.
• AUTO-LISTEN: voice recognition can be set to start automatically when the iPhone is turned on. Simply open Vlingo and speak in one easy step.
• CONTACT SELECTION: when composing a text message, say your contact and the message in one fell swoop, “Text Erin, Message How are you?”

The Vlingo for iPhone App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

It includes voice dial, search, maps, Facebook and Twitter update functionality. The new email and SMS Paste messaging features can be added to the app for $6.99 each, or both for only $9.99.

About Vlingo

With Vlingo, users can instantly send a text or email message, call a friend, search the web, update their Facebook or Twitter status, use instant messaging, add contacts and calendar entries and more by just speaking into their phone. As the inventor of the mobile phone “voice user interface,” Vlingo is the only technology that allows people to use virtually any application on the phone simply by pressing a button and speaking to the phone. Founded in 2006, Vlingo is backed by Charles River Ventures, Sigma Partners, Yahoo! and AT&T and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, go to www.vlingo.com.

Human rights organization appalled at administration’s reported decision to try detainees in military courts after proclaiming they would be tried in federal courts; sends wrong message to friends and foes

WASHINGTON, March 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA executive director, issued the following statement in response to news reports that the Obama administration is considering to try 9/11 detainees in military commissions after stating that the men would be tried in federal courts. A final decision is expected within the next two weeks:

“Hope and change will not rectify the damage today to the United States’ international reputation. Change requires more than hope; it requires action and resolve.

“Unfortunately when it comes to resolving Guantanamo, action and resolve seem currently absent in the White House.

“Military commissions were created to consider evidence too inadequate to submit to a valid court. The commissions do not conform to the due process standards established under international law and do not have legitimacy in the eyes of the global community.

“The United States is just beginning to restore a measure of its credibility as a champion of human rights on the international stage. In one stroke, President Obama could reverse that hard-won progress.

“The hypocrisy shown by this possible decision has no bounds. The administration is scheduled to release the U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on Tuesday, March 9, assessing human rights around the world. It is rather difficult to criticize the human rights records of other countries while the U.S. government still continues its absurd process of trying some detainees in kangaroo courts and holding others indefinitely.”

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.

For more information, please go to www.amnestyusa.org

SOURCE Amnesty International

IKEA Holiday Soft Toy Sales Support Global UNICEF And Save the Children Educational Programs.

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., March 3 /PRNewswire/ — No one can dispute. Every child should be given the opportunity to have a good education. It’s their future. Our future. It’s a child’s right. Yet everyday, millions of children around the world don’t have access to a quality education. It could be lack of materials, quality trained teachers, disabilities; the reasons are long and complex.

IKEA believes children are the most important people in the world. And every year, during holiday shopping time, IKEA reaches out to its customers to give back through the sale of their soft toy sales campaign titled One euro is a fortune. For every IKEA Soft Toy sold between November 1 – December 24, 1 euro (approximately $1.47 US dollar)* goes to IKEA global partners UNICEF and Save the Children to support children’s educational needs in developing areas such as Asia, Africa, China, Viet Nam and many others.

Since the program inception in 2003, IKEA has raised over $35 million US dollars globally from in-store IKEA soft toy sales (November 1 – December 24th) and contributed to improving education for approximately 8 million children in more than 30 countries. The past 2009 year campaign raised over $10 million dollars, a record high in past donations. The Soft Toy campaign is driven by the IKEA Social Initiative; a commitment to developing communities with the mission to improve children’s rights and opportunities.

IKEA supports UNICEF and Save the Children’s position – all children have a right to access a quality education that prepares them for the widest range of opportunities in life. Yet in 2006, 93 million children were not in school. And almost 80 per cent of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

UNICEF will direct this year’s funding to its “Schools for Africa” education program with a focus on Child Friendly Schools in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mali, Niger and South Africa.

Through the Child Friendly Schools approach in Niger, UNICEF supports the training of school management committees, the building and equipment for classrooms and the training of new teachers. The objective is to provide 50,000 children from rural areas with access to quality education in primary schools, and to engage parents in the school management process and train primary school teachers.

“IKEA has been a key partner of UNICEF for many years, contributing to our programs to save and improve the lives of children worldwide,” said President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF Caryl Stern. “With the help of record high donations this past year, we continue to promote the rights of every child to a healthy, secure childhood and access to quality education. UNICEF is proud to have a strong corporate partner with a deep commitment to social responsibility and direct engagement with issues affecting children and we hope this important partnership stays strong for many years to come.”

Save the Children will use the 2009 donation for the following programs; in Russia to combat discrimination of disabled children, in Albania to improve learning for children at risk of exploitation and trafficking, in Vietnam to increase access to quality basic education for disadvantaged children, and in Bangladesh to improve educational services for children of indigenous groups.

“We are very grateful to IKEA for their generous support, which has enabled us to provide quality education to children living in some of the poorest, most remote communities in the world,” said Charlie MacCormack, President and CEO of Save the Children. “Through our partnership, we have been able to reach thousands of young people who would otherwise have little opportunity to learn and develop the skills they need for the future.”

Through the commitment of IKEA customers, IKEA has been able to increase its support to UNICEF and Save the Children each year, making a substantial impact on improving the education of millions of children. Additionally, IKEA remains the largest global corporate donor to UNICEF with donations exceeding $180 million dollars.

*With each purchase, between November 1 – December 24, approximately 1 euro is split between UNICEF and Save the Children’s educational programs.

About IKEA: IKEA places great value on life at home. Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered home furnishings and accessories of good design and functional living solutions at prices so low that the majority of the people can afford them. Currently there are more than 300 IKEA stores in 37 countries, including 48 in North America (11 in Canada; 37 in the US). IKEA has six distribution centers in North America, with a manufacturing facility in Danville, VA. IKEA has been named to BusinessWeek’s List of The Best Global Brands (August 7, 2006) and for four consecutive years, Working Mother magazine’s annual list of the “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers.” IKEA was listed in March 2007, on Fast Company’s Fast 50, for its environmentally responsible products, as well as five consecutive years, Training magazine’s annual list of top companies that excel at human capital development. IKEA incorporates environmentally friendly efforts into day-to-day business and continuously supports initiatives that benefit causes such as children and the environment including UNICEF, Save the Children and American Forests. To visit the IKEA Web site, please go to www.IKEA-usa.com. To learn more about IKEA environmental and social responsibility actions and programs, visit http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/about_ikea/index.html.

About UNICEF: UNICEF has saved more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization in the world. Working in over 150 countries, UNICEF provides children with health care, clean water, nutrition, education, emergency relief, and more. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF supports UNICEF’s work through fundraising, advocacy, and education in the United States. UNICEF is at the forefront of efforts to reduce child mortality worldwide. There has been substantial progress—the annual number of under-five deaths dropped from 13 million in 1990 to 8.8 million in 2008. But still, 24,000 children die each day from preventable causes. Our mission is to do whatever it takes to make that number zero by giving children the essentials for a safe and healthy childhood. For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org.

Save The Children: Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world. For more than 75 years, Save the Children has been helping children survive and thrive by improving their health, education and economic opportunities and, in times of acute crisis, mobilizing rapid life-saving assistance to help children recover from the effects of war, conflict and natural disasters. For more information, please visit www.savethechildren.org. Save the Children USA is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, a global network of 29 independent Save the Children organizations working to ensure the well-being and protection of children in more than 120 countries.

SOURCE IKEA

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http://www.IKEA-usa.com

ARMONK, N.Y., March 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — IBM ( IBM) today announced that it has completed the acquisition of National Interest Security Company, LLC (NISC), a privately held company headquartered in Fairfax, VA. Financial terms were not disclosed. The companies had announced a definitive agreement in January to pursue the acquisition.

The business will be integrated into IBM Global Business Services, operating initially as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

The combined offerings will enable IBM to expand its capabilities with federal, state and local government entities, particularly in the fast-growing areas of defense, healthcare, energy, logistics and security. NISC’s deep federal expertise will complement IBM’s existing public sector offerings and the recently launched Business Analytics and Optimization (BAO) Services for Public Sector.

IBM’s public sector BAO team works with government agencies utilizing advanced analytics to transform ordinary data into predictive intelligence, helping agencies improve the speed and quality of their decision making.

“With IBM’s analytic and innovation prowess, and NISC’s industry knowledge and experience in defense, healthcare, energy and infrastructure management services, we’ll bring an unprecedented level of service and support to our government clients,” said Chuck Prow, managing partner, public sector, IBM Global Business Services.

NISC, which has 1,000 employees, has expertise in systems engineering, biometrics, document and media exploitation, systems integration, software development, enterprise architecture, security, information assurance, analysis support and critical infrastructure protection.

For more on IBM, visit: http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/

Contact information:
Steven Tomasco
IBM Media Relations
917-687-4588
stomasc@us.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM

RELATED LINKS
http://www.ibm.com

VH1 New Original Series Set to Premiere on Monday, March 15th at 10 PM ET/PT*

Catch a Sneak Peek of the Premiere Episode on VH1.com Beginning Friday, March 12

LOS ANGELES, March 1 /PRNewswire/ — No matter where you are in the world, chances are, you know that Jessica Simpson is no stranger to the spotlight. Her hit pop and country songs, movies, television and eponymous collection of shoes, clothes, bags etc. have helped to keep her in America’s eye, but we all know Jessica for more than just her career achievements. Jessica has been followed, studied and scrutinized since she released her first hit single at the age of 19. Now, Jessica turns the tables on our culture and cultures all over the world in her new original series on VH1, “Jessica Simpson’s The Price of Beauty.” The series is set to premiere on Monday, March 15 at 10PM ET/PT.*

In the new VH1 docu-series, produced by RDF USA (”Wife Swap”, “Secret Millionaire”), Jessica travels to Japan, Thailand, France, Brazil, Uganda, Morocco, and India then back home to Los Angeles to meet every day women and some local pop culture icons. She examines the local fashions, dietary fads and beauty regimes and even participates in some extreme practices in order to reveal what constitutes beauty in these foreign cultures.

Viewers can catch a sneak peek of the season’s first episode on VH1.com on Friday, March 12. Subsequent episodes will be available on VH1.com the morning after they air. Additional video content from “Jessica Simpson’s The Price of Beauty” including extras from each episode will be available on VH1.com and on VH1 Mobile throughout the season.

VH1 has teamed up with Operation Smile, who are featured in several episodes of the series, to encourage consumers to share their smile to create a smile mosaic and raise money to give children all over the world the smile they deserve. All smiles collected via mobile messaging, online uploads and street marketing will become part of a mosaic composite featuring photos from “Jessica Simpson’s The Price of Beauty.” The mosaic will live online at VH1smile.com. People can also send a photo of their smile using their mobile phones using the code 80366. For every smile shared, $1 will be donated to Operation Smile by VH1 up to $10,000. In addition, consumers will be encouraged to donate to Operation Smile on their own by texting SMILE to 90999 to donate $5 automatically. They can also go to OperationSmile.org to donate. Operation Smile is a not-for-profit that performs life-changing surgery on children with facial deformities worldwide.

“Jessica Simpson’s The Price of Beauty” is executive produced by Chris Coelen and Claire O’Donohoe for RDF USA. Jessica Simpson and Joe Simpson also serve as executive producers. Executive producing for VH1 are Jeff Olde, Jill Holmes, and Sean Boyle.

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with TV series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in 95 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital channels and services including VH1Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Mobile, VH1Games and extensive broadband video on VH1.com. Connect with VH1 at VH1.com.

*All times ET/PT

SOURCE VH1

RELATED LINKS
http://www.vh1.com