Washington, DC – May 18, 2007 – During the Joint Services Open House at Andrews Air Force Base today, Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, discussed its donation of more than 300,000 books, toys and games to America Supports You homefront non-profit groups and military-support organizations around the country. The merchandise, worth approximately $3.4 million, includes books, toys and games for all ages. In addition, Barnes & Noble announced that it is joining America Supports You, a Department of Defense program that highlights and recognizes citizens’ support for members of the U.S. armed services and their families. As part of the America Supports You program, Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com) has made a commitment to continue its ongoing support for members of the military community by developing a special Web site www.bn.com/asy. Every time a purchase is made through this site, a percentage of each sale will be donated to an America Supports You homefront group.
“On behalf of all the booksellers at Barnes & Noble, we thank America Supports You for this opportunity to express our support to our fellow Americans,” said Marie Toulantis, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble.com.
Operation AC, an America Supports You homefront group, was designated the primary recipient of Barnes & Noble’s donation; however, due to the volume of the merchandise, Operation AC approached America Supports You to make the goods available to other homefront groups and military non-profits around the country.
“When I was asked if I could accept this generous donation from Barnes & Noble, I immediately knew I had to share it with as many America Supports You homefront groups as possible,” said Frankie Mayo, founder of Operation AC. “When it came to trying to figure out how I could move all the books, toys and games, the first phone call I made was to America Supports You.”
America Supports You representatives reached out to corporate supporter Y3K Grafix, the lead agency for the America Supports You trailer wrap program (www.asytrailerwraps.com). Y3K Grafix, Vice President, Tony Rosenbaum, a retired Chief Warrant Officer of the United States Marine Corps, has been instrumental at organizing and managing the distribution of over 500 pallets of Barnes & Noble merchandise with the help of Penske Logistics, which donated transportation services for 22 trailer loads delivered to homefront groups and military bases all around the country.
“We’re so thankful to Barnes & Noble for their generous support for our homefront groups, and we’re happy to welcome this great company to the America Supports You team,” said Allison Barber, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. “The donation of books for our military men and women, and the gift of games, toys and books to their families is an incredible way to express our nation’s support for members of the military community. And we especially thank Y3K Grafix and Penske Logistics for making all this possible.”
With over 250 homefront groups on the America Supports You team, the Barnes & Noble donation provides much appreciated supplies to a variety of military-service organizations. Books are being distributed to deployed service members through care package programs and to the wounded at military hospitals, while the toys, games and children’s books are being delivered to America Supports You homefront groups that focus on supporting the families of deployed and fallen service members.
To date, the following non-profit organizations have benefited from Barnes & Noble’s generous donation: Operation A/C (Dover, DE), which sends care packages to “adopted” military members deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan; Operation Shoebox (Ocala, FL), which has sent over 200,000 care packages since 2003; Camp Pendleton’s Armed Services YMCA and Military Outreach Ministry (San Diego, CA); Indiana’s USO for distribution to Veteran’s Medical Centers throughout the state; the Department of Veterans Affairs in Michigan; Camp Atterbury, a major troop mobilization station and training center that will distribute books to deploying soldiers; Ft. Belvoir’s USO chapter for distribution to homefront groups located in the Virginia area; and Adopt-a-Chaplain (San Jose, CA), which provides support to troops through outreach to deployed chaplains.
For more information about America Supports You, contact Michelle Shortencarrier at 202-615-7152 or e-mail michelle@susandavis.com. For more information about Barnes & Noble, contact Carolyn Brown at 212-633-4062 or e-mail cbrown@bn.com. To learn more about the America Supports You trailer wrap program, contact Tony Rosenbaum at 760-908-6005 or e-mail tonyr@y3kgrafix.com.
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About Barnes & Noble, Inc.
About Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 793 bookstores in 50 states. For the fifth year in a row, the company is the nation’s top retail brand for quality, according to the EquiTrend® Brand Study by Harris Interactive®. Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites and the number one online bookseller for quality among e-commerce companies, according to the latest EquiTrend survey. Barnes & Noble.com is proud to be a GSA Schedule contractor under Schedule Number GS02F0025J. General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company’s corporate Web site: http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com.
About America Supports You: America Supports You is an ongoing, nationwide program organized by the Department of Defense to showcase Americans’ support for the men and women of the Armed Forces and their families. Since its launch in November of 2004, the America Supports You program has welcomed over 250 homefront organizations and more than 35 corporations to the team. Many America Supports You supporters support the troops through letter writing, care packages, helping the wounded when they return home, assisting military families, sending an email or kind gesture—to learn more about how you can support military personnel visit www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil.
About Y3K Grafix: America Supports You supporter Y3K Grafix, Inc. is in charge of rolling out colorfully wrapped trailer graphics displayed on nationwide trucking firms who have donated the space on their trailers to create one of the largest Moving Billboard Public Awareness Campaigns.
About Penske Logistics
Penske Logistics is a wholly owned subsidiary of Penske Truck Leasing, a joint venture of Penske Corporation and General Electric. Penske Logistics provides supply chain management and logistics services to major industrial and consumer companies throughout the world. The company has offices and operations in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Penske Logistics delivers value through design, planning and execution in transportation, warehousing, international forwarding and carrier management. Visit www.PenskeLogistics.com to learn more about the company and its services.
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