Expedia Shares True Story of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital® Patient and her Travels to Inspire Hope

BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its "Find Yours™" campaign, Expedia.com® today introduced a video titled "Find Your Strength," that demonstrates how travel helps one young woman fulfill her promise to her best friend who lost his battle with cancer. The film follows the journey of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital® patient Maggie as she prepares to share her message of strength after coming to terms with her own cancer and discovers a renewed purpose in life. "Find Your Strength" is the seventh video in a series of stories that demonstrate that every trip is unique and has the power to be transformative. Expedia's most recent UGC video, "Find Your Understanding," has been viewed over two million times on YouTube.  

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110121/SF33870LOGO-b )

"Find Your Strength" is Maggie's journey. It can be viewed in full at www.expedia.com/findyours.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is one of the world's premier centers for the research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other deadly childhood diseases. The hospital's mission is to find cures for these kids by combining pioneering research with exceptional care. Consistent with the vision of founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race or religion, and no family ever pays St. Jude for anything, thanks to donations received through fundraising initiatives and partnerships with organizations like Expedia.

Expedia is inviting consumers to join the brand in donating to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Methods include:

• Expedia's Facebook Share Campaign: for every Facebook user who shares the Find Your Strength post from Expedia's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/expedia, Expedia will donate $5, up to a total of $50,000.
• Consumers can Retweet to Donate on Expedia's Twitter page; for every retweet of the campaign hashtag #ExpediaStJude, Expedia will donate $1, up to $10,000.
• Via SMS Donation Matching, consumers can text GIVE to 50333 to donate $10* to the kids of St. Jude. Expedia will match those donations, up to a total of $25,000.
• Find Yours Donation Matching: Expedia will match every dollar consumers donate when they visit www.Expedia.com/FindYours, up to a total of $165,000, bringing the total donation directly from Expedia to $250,000 in addition to donations from consumers.

Expedia's "Find Yours" campaign is about putting personal relevance and emotion back into the travel space. The entire campaign, which includes television commercials, was designed with ad agency 180LA, and features traveler-generated content.

About Expedia.com
Expedia.com is the world's leading online travel site, helping millions of travelers per month easily plan and book travel. Expedia.com (http://www.expedia.com/, 1-800-EXPEDIA) aims to provide the latest technology and the widest selection of vacations, flights, hotels, rental cars, resorts, cruises and in-destination activities, attractions, services and travel apps. With the Expedia Best Price Guarantee, Expedia.com customers can get the best rates available online for all types of travel.  Whether you want to relax in Myrtle Beach, ski in Vail or swim in Bora Bora, we know every trip and every traveler is unique and we want to help you Find Yours™.

Expedia, Expedia.com and the Airplane logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. © 2012 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. CST # 2029030-50. *Msg & Data rates may apply.

Web site: http://www.expedia.com/

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Since opening 50 years ago, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has changed the way the world treats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. No family ever pays St. Jude for anything and, for every child treated here, thousands more have been saved worldwide through St. Jude discoveries. The hospital has played a pivotal role in pushing U.S. pediatric cancer survival rates from 20 to 80 percent overall, and is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. It is also a leader in the research and treatment of blood disorders and infectious diseases in children. St. Jude was founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, who believed that no child should die in the dawn of life. Join that mission by visiting stjude.org or following us on facebook.com/stjude and twitter.com/stjude.

SOURCE Expedia, Inc.