One Company gives $1 Million in One Day

12/27/10

Actor Josh Lucas and dog Loki give everyday people in New York the chance to give back to the organizations they believe in most. Courtesy of Getty Images

On December 20^th, Americans across the country were given the opportunity to give back, by giving away $1 million dollars courtesy of Purina. During the course of the day, Purina ONE®'s  beyOnd, a new healthy, eco-friendly pet food on the shelves starting in January, gave away a total of $1 million to people’s favorite non-profit organizations.

Street teams led by actor Josh Lucas in New York; snowboarder Chris Klug in Denver; former New Orleans Saints footballer Deuce McAllister in New Orleans; and Chef Michelle Bernstein in Miami randomly stopped people on the streets and asked them to share what they believed in. In return, each individual was given $5,000 dollars from Purina to donate in their name to the non-profit organization of their choice.

 According to a new national survey conducted by Purina ONE® beyOnd™ that explored how Americans give back during the holidays, most Americans, 79 percent find some way to give during the holidays.  In fact, nine in 10 adults agree that they wish they were able to give more to charity. With this in mind, Purina tapped into Americans’ desire to give back and throughout the course of the day $200,000 dollars was given away to non-profits in each city, and $200,000 was also distributed online via the Purina ONE® Facebook page, (www.facebook.com/purinaone)

The $1 million in ONE Day Campaign was a great way to provide “people the opportunity to give in ways they might not be able to do on their own, and there is no better time to do this than during the holiday season "shared actor Josh Lucas. United Way was honored to be featured in the campaign and is excited that people across America chose to LIVE UNITED, helping United Way win $45,000 dollars during the day.

Thank you to Purina for dedicating your efforts this holiday season to give back to organizations that benefit people and pets.  And, thank you to all the individuals who believe in United Way and designated their dollars to us during the campaign.  We are all connected and interdependent and it takes everyone in the community, working together to create a brighter future and advance the common good.