NHL and Huggies® 'Every Little Bottom' Partner To Launch 'Hockey For Huggies' Diaper Drives

NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Hockey League® (NHL) and Kimberly-Clark's Huggies Brand today announced a partnership to launch Hockey for Huggies, a month-long campaign to collect diapers and donations for families and babies in need across North America. The partnership was announced by Carolina Hurricanes' captain Eric Staal, his wife Tanya and actress and mother of one Ellen Pompeo at the NHL Fan Fair™, the official NHL fan festival for the 2011 NHL® All-Star Weekend in Raleigh, N.C.  

Huggies launched Every Little Bottom as an ongoing effort to help the 1 in 3 American mothers who struggle to provide diapers for their babies. In 2010 the program generated 22.5 million diapers through local diaper drives, events and product donations.(1)  As a complement to Every Little Bottom, the NHL and Huggies have partnered to create Hockey for Huggies.  During the month of February, all 30 NHL member clubs will host a Hockey for Huggies night in their arena to collect diapers and donations benefitting local babies in need.

To help bring national attention to the critical issue of diaper need, the NHL and Huggies enlisted mom and Every Little Bottom ambassador Ellen Pompeo to tape a special public service announcement urging hockey fans to donate diapers to families in need, which will debut Saturday, January 29, at the Honda NHL SuperSkills competition.

"We're eager to reach hockey fans with the critical message of diaper need in a continued effort to spread the word and help as many families as we can," said Bob Thibault, president of Kimberly-Clark infant, baby and childcare brands. "From the beginning, Huggies Every Little Bottom has worked collaboratively with many valuable national partners to encourage local community involvement, and we hope to continue to make an impact locally through this NHL partnership."

Diaper donations in support of Hockey for Huggies are being accepted now at the Huggies Every Little Bottom booth inside the NHL Fan Fair™ at the Raleigh Convention Center and the RBC Center, January 28 to 30.  Fans who bring diapers or cash donations to NHL Fan Fair will be eligible to receive discount coupons for purchases of NHL merchandise at Shop.NHL.com.  In addition to local diaper drives in each of the 30 NHL team arenas, Huggies will hold an additional drive at the upcoming 2011 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic™ in Calgary.

Fans can also text the name of their favorite NHL team to 501501 in the US and 20222 in Canada to donate $5 and help diaper babies in their community.  For a calendar of all Hockey for Huggies diaper drive nights or to donate online, visit NHL Auctions and NHL.com/huggies.  All diapers and proceeds generated will be donated to a local social service agency within each NHL team's community, who will efficiently distribute diapers to those in need. To learn more about community events or ways to help, visit EveryLittleBottom.com.

"The number of families across North America who are struggling to provide diapers for their babies is staggering," said Keith Wachtel, NHL Senior Vice President, Integrated Sales.  "What Huggies has created with Every Little Bottom is truly inspiring, and the NHL and its member clubs are proud to develop this unique and compelling platform that will support this worthwhile cause."

About Huggies® Every Little Bottom

Huggies® Every Little Bottom has a single mission – to help get diapers to babies in need in the U.S. and Canada. The program was developed in response to a groundbreaking new study commissioned by Kimberly-Clark that revealed the critical issue of diaper need. Diaper need is the struggle to provide babies with diapers. Today, 1 in 3 American and 1 in 5 Canadian mothers struggle with diaper need, and have had to cut back on basics – food, utilities such as heat or electricity, or even childcare – in order to provide enough diapers for their babies. With the support of partner organizations, grassroots efforts and moms across the country, the program will build awareness of the issue and work to create a long-term solution.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark and its well-known global brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 150 countries. Every day, 1.3 billion people -- nearly a quarter of the world's population -- trust K-C brands and the solutions they provide to enhance their health, hygiene and well-being. With brands such as Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex and Depend, Kimberly-Clark holds the No. 1 or No. 2 share position in more than 80 countries. To keep up with the latest K-C news and to learn more about the company's 138-year history of innovation, visit www.Kimberly-Clark.com.

About the NHL

The National Hockey League, founded in 1917, is the second-oldest of the four major professional team sports leagues in North America.  Today, the NHL consists of 30 member clubs, each reflecting the League's international makeup, with players from more than 20 countries represented on team rosters. According to a Simmons Market Research study, NHL fans are younger, more educated, more affluent, and access content through digital means more than any other sport. The NHL entertains more than 250 million fans each season in-arena and through its partners in national television (VERSUS, NBC, TSN, CBC, RDS, RIS, NASN, ASN and NHL Network™) and radio (NHL Radio™, Sirius XM Radio and XM Canada).  Through the NHL Foundation, the League's charitable arm, the NHL raises money and awareness for Hockey Fights Cancer™ and NHL Youth Development, and supports the charitable efforts of NHL players. For more information on the NHL, log on to NHL.com.

NHL, the NHL Shield and National Hockey League are registered trademarks and NHL Fan Fair, NHL Network and NHL Heritage Classic are trademarks of the National Hockey League.  All Rights Reserved.

(1)The Huggies® Every Little Bottom thought-leadership study was conducted by Abt SRBI in collaboration with Dr. Cybele Raver, the director of New York University's Institute of Human Development and Social Change, and Dr. Nicole Letourneau, Canada Research Chair in Healthy Child Development and Professor at the University of New Brunswick.  

SOURCE Kimberly-Clark; National Hockey League