Global Ambassador Reese Witherspoon and Avon Chairman and CEO Andrea Jung Continue Year-Long Avon Believe World Tour in Poland and Russia

NEW YORK, June 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Award-winning actress and Avon Global Ambassador Reese Witherspoon joined Avon Chairman and CEO Andrea Jung to celebrate the company's 125th Anniversary year in Warsaw, Poland, on June 14 and Moscow, Russia, on June 16, on the ninth and tenth stops of the 16-city Avon Believe World Tour.  Thousands of Avon Representatives joined to celebrate the company's heritage and belief in its mission to empower women.

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At each event, Jung and Witherspoon presented a grant of $60,000 to a local organization to continue its work to support victims of domestic violence. In Warsaw, the grant was made to Blue Line; in Moscow, the grant went to ANNA, the National Center for the Prevention of Violence in Russia.  

Blue Line, founded in 1995, is a Polish organization dedicated to preventing domestic violence against women and children with programs such as the first ever country-wide media campaign titled "Stop the Violence." ANNA, the National Center for the Prevention of Violence in Russia, is a regional non-governmental organization focused on the prevention of violence and the development of services for women survivors of violence. This March, ANNA partnered with Avon Russia to create the National Help Line for Women victims of domestic violence.

These grants were made as part of the new $2 million Avon Global Believe Fund that Avon created to help support women's domestic violence shelters and agencies in each of the 16 cities on the Avon Believe World Tour. The Avon Foundation for Women has partnered with the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) to identify and fund an international network of outstanding nonprofit organizations to help them provide critical life-saving services for victims of domestic violence and their families. This global effort also aims to draw attention to the alarming lack of adequate services for women and children who are victims of domestic violence in communities everywhere.

"We are proud to be able to provide these important grants to organizations around the world that make it their mission to help women," said Avon Chairman and CEO Andrea Jung. "As the company for women, Avon feels an obligation to play a leadership role in helping to improve the lives of women around the world, and we truly believe we can make a difference."

"I am so honored to join Avon in both Moscow and Warsaw to present the grants to these very important organizations, said Avon Global Ambassador Reese Witherspoon. "I believe we all have a responsibility to raise awareness about the violence that affects one in three women around the world, making it one of the most prevalent, yet underfunded global problems."

Throughout 2011, approximately 125,000 Avon Representatives will participate in the Avon Believe World Tour as it visits Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, London, Istanbul, New York, Mexico City, Warsaw, Moscow, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Manila, Shanghai, New Delhi and Johannesburg.  In addition to Reese Witherspoon, special guests who have joined Avon at past stops of the Tour include Fergie, Patrick Dempsey, Yasmin Le Bon, Zoe Saldana and Suze Orman.  

About Avon

Avon, the company for women, is a leading global beauty company, with over $10 billion in annual revenue. As the world's largest direct seller, Avon markets to women in more than 100 countries through approximately 6.5 million active independent Avon Sales Representatives. Avon's product line includes beauty products, as well as fashion and home products, and features such well-recognized brand names as Avon Color, Anew, Skin-So-Soft, Advance Techniques, Avon Naturals, and mark. Learn more about Avon and its products at www.avoncompany.com.

About the Avon Foundation for Women and Avon Global Philanthropy

Avon is a global corporate leader in philanthropy focused solely on causes that matter most to women. Through 2010 Avon global philanthropy, led by the U.S.-based Avon Foundation for Women, has donated more than $800 million in more than 50 countries for causes most important to women. Avon's funding is focused on breast cancer research and access to care through the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, and efforts to reduce domestic and gender violence through its Speak Out Against Domestic Violence program. Avon also responds generously to provide support for relief and recovery efforts in times of major natural disasters and emergencies. The company's global markets sell special products to raise funds for breast cancer and domestic violence, conduct hundreds of events that raise funds and awareness for these causes, and provide critical life-saving information to women everywhere through it global army of more than 6.5 million Avon Representatives.

SOURCE Avon Products, Inc.