Vanity and OneRepublic Help Feeding America 'Share the Secret About Hunger'

FARGO, N.D., Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- National fashion retailer Vanity recently partnered with pop band OneRepublic to help fight hunger with a promotion benefitting Feeding America, the nation's largest hunger relief organization, and its 202 partner food banks across the country. The "Share the Secret About Hunger" campaign exceeded its goal of providing 100,000 meals by collecting enough food and money to provide a total of 165,625 meals to those in need.

"One of the guiding principles of our company has been to give back to the communities we serve. 'Share the Secret' afforded us an excellent opportunity to make a difference by partnering with OneRepublic and local food banks in our markets to help those less fortunate," said Richard Weinstein, Vanity President and CEO. "The overwhelming response of our associates and, most importantly, our customers was a wonderful expression of the compassion and caring that makes this country so remarkable and unique. We thought our goal of providing 100,000 meals was going to be challenging given the current economic environment. To have collected enough food to provide over 165,000 meals is truly remarkable and greatly appreciated."

The campaign aimed to help raise awareness about food insecurity incurred by 49 million Americans everyday at a national level as well as provide hunger relief  for people in need in 186 local communities across the U.S.

"The Share the Secret about Hunger campaign had a great impact for our community. The amount of donations we received at our location (about 1,040 meals worth of food) was outstanding, and our food pantry was extremely grateful for the community's generous donations," said Morgan Daily, Vanity Store Sales Manager, LaCrosse, Wis. "During our collection, we had community members donate entire grocery carts of food for the cause! We received so many comments from the community during our food drive that they have never seen a corporation that volunteers time to help the communities that they are in." 

For six weeks, Sept. 7 through Oct. 16, Vanity collected more than 154,000 pounds of non-perishable food donations in all of its stores, which will provide nearly 123,520 meals and will be distributed to local food banks that partner with Feeding America and other local food pantries and shelters.

"At Feeding South Dakota, our needs always seem to outpace our resources as we are a food-manufacturing poor state, so we are heavily dependent on food drives like this," said Jim Dawson, Food Sourcing Specialist, Feeding South Dakota, Sioux Falls, S.D. "We service about 500 hunger relief agencies in South Dakota -- in every county in the state. Without donor partners like Vanity, we could not help as many people as we do!"

Vanity, in association with Interscope Records, also sold exclusive OneRepublic "Waking Up" CDs, offering customers chances to win prizes in-store and online. Vanity will donate all of the proceeds from the 2,005 CDs it sold to Feeding America, amounting to about $6,200. Every CD sold will help to provide approximately 21 meals for those in need or about 42,105 meals.

"We are grateful for Vanity's support and contribution in helping feed America's hungry," said Molly Hart, spokesperson for Feeding America.  "It is important to have these types of partnerships when 49 million people – including 17 million children – are at the risk of hunger."

For more information about the "Share the Secret About Hunger" campaign and hunger relief in the U.S., visit www.eVanity.com > Social Responsibility and www.feedingamerica.org.

About Vanity:

Vanity is a specialty retailer offering the latest lifestyle trends and fashion designs for style-conscious young women, including tops, bottoms and accessories. For more than 40 years, Vanity has strived to provide its customers with an attractive and relevant shopping experience with on-trend, wear-now style offered in a wide variety of sizes; jeans with 25"- 34" waist with inseams varying from 29" - 37", bottoms sizes 0-17, and tops ranging from XS to 2XL. Operating 186 stores in 27 states, Vanity's corporate headquarters is in Fargo, N.D. It also serves customers nationwide through its online store, eVanity.com.

About Interscope * Universal Music Group:

Universal Music Group is the world's largest music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 77 countries. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, one of the industry's largest global music publishing operations.  Universal Music Group consists of record labels Decca Label Group, Deutsche Grammophon, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Geffen Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Philips, Polydor Records, Universal Music Latino, Universal Motown Records Group, Universal Records South and Verve Music Group, as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalog of music in the industry, which is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes eLabs, a new media and technologies division, and Universal Music Mobile. Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi, a global media and communications company.

About Feeding America:

Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit http://www.feedingamerica.org  Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/FeedingAmerica or follow our news on Twitter at twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.

About Blanche Agency:

Blanche is a Los Angeles-based, full-service, marketing agency specializing in campaigns, promotions, partnerships and marketing solutions for brands and retailers with the music and entertainment industries. Founded by Lynda Stenge in 2008, the company creates fresh, unique opportunities and develops relevant, fun and strategic promotions to drive sales and connect with an otherwise hard-to-reach audience -- engaging them with dynamic, experiential marketing tied to the music and other entertainment they love.  For more information visit: www.blancheagency.com

SOURCE Vanity