(Source: Press Release from Yahoo! Finance)
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 9, 2003– WWE® Superstars will be visiting troops in Iraq and Kuwait, bringing with them holiday greetings and USO Care Packages.
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE – News) is helping to promote the United Service Organizations (USO) “Operation USO Care Package” in December, prior to the WWE Superstars traveling to Iraq and Kuwait in a tour organized by the Department of Defense, Armed Forces Entertainment office. The visit will be shown on a special edition of WWE SmackDown!(TM) to be aired on UPN on Christmas night, December 25.
For a donation of $25, individuals can send a USO Care Package containing an assortment of daily sundries that our military have specifically requested, such as prepaid international calling cards, disposable cameras, toiletries, and sunscreen. They also include greetings from the American public, transferred onto official “Operation USO Care Package” post cards.
WWE is promoting the USO initiative within WWE television programming and on its web site, wwe.com. WWE has established troops.wwe.com where people can sponsor a care package, and it also will be posting holiday messages to the troops from its viewers. People who want to send greetings to the troops for posting on the website can email them to Troops@WWE.com.
“We started Operation USO Care Package because of restrictions due to security on mail to members of the military,” said Elaine Rogers, USO Metro Washington President, who attended the news conference. “People across America show our fighting men and women that they are remembered by Americans back home when they send one of these care packages along with their holiday greetings, and the WWE has us off to a grand start.”
“The participation of a great organization like the WWE is essential to the success of a program like Operation USO Care Package,” said Retired Brigadier General Michael Teilmann, Executive Director of the Hollywood USO at LAX. “Having the WWE Superstars not only promote this program, but then deliver the packages, provides an added dimension and brings that extra bit of home to our troops. I think it’s tremendous.”
Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman, will be among those attending the WWE holiday tour, along with WWE Superstars Big Show®, Torrie Wilson(TM), Sable®, Chris Benoit(TM), Eddie Guerrero(TM), John Cena(TM), Bradshaw(TM) and Farooq(TM), Rikishi(TM), Rhyno(TM), and Dawn Marie(TM).
“We are looking forward to visiting the troops and providing them with the most unusual, entertaining live event ever produced for the holidays. We plan on carrying as many care packages as we can to deliver to the troops, along with greetings from the American public,” said McMahon.
Full details on Operation USO Care Package can be found by visiting www.usocares.org or calling 866-USO-GIVE.
