Lee National Denim Day

Lee National Denim Day is a single-day fundraiser created by Lee Jeans to support the Women's Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. Every year, on the first Friday in October, breast cancer awareness month, people nationwide are asked to wear their jeans and donate $5 in support of breast cancer research.

File:DenimDay Logo.jpg

Program History

Lee National Denim Day is one of the largest single-day fundraisers for breast cancer in the world. Each year, on the first Friday in October National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Lee Jeans encourages millions of people nationwide to wear their favorite jeans and make a $5 donation to support the fight against breast cancer.

Now in its 13th year, Lee National Denim Day has raised more than $75 million in the fight against breast cancer. In 2008, an estimated 800,000 individuals wore denim on Lee National Denim Day.

Program Beneficiaries

Net proceeds raised from Lee National Denim Day benefit the Women’s Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation [1] and will help to:

 Fund Lee Laboratories nationwide to find more effective, less toxic breast cancer treatments

 Develop a blood test for earlier detection of breast cancer

 Help NBCC create online and print resources about breast cancer and train additional advocates to educate patients and their families about new clinical trials

For more information about Denim Day, visit [2].

Celebrity spokespersons

• 2008 - Actors Chandra Wilson, who plays Dr. Miranda Bailey on Grey's Anatomy, and Tim Daly, who plays Dr. Pete Wilder on Private Practice, joined the campaign in support of loved ones who have struggled with the disease.

• 2007 - Actress Mariska Hargitay, who plays detective Olivia Benson on Law and Order:SVU is the 2007 Lee National Denim Day ambassador, and is dedicating her involvement to her childhood friend who lost her battle with breast cancer in Spring 2007. Also supporting the program in 2007 via team fundraising pages are musician and television star Billy Ray Cyrus, and actresses Gabrielle Union and Kerry Washington.

• 2006 - Actor Pierce Brosnan, who played British superspy James Bond, was the 2006 spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day. Brosnan's first wife, Australian actress Cassandra Harris, died due to ovarian cancer, and he has been a cancer advocate ever since.[3]

• 2005 - Actors James Denton and Ricardo Antonio Chavira, stars of the hit TV show Desperate Housewives, joined forces to help raise $8.5 million to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Lee National Denim Day. The mothers of both actors lost their lives to breast cancer. [4]

• 2004 - Actor Charlie Sheen, star of the hit TV show Two and a Half Men, was the 2004 spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day. A close friend of his lost her life to breast cancer, and Charlie wanted to help find a cure for the disease. [5]

• 2003 - Actress Christina Applegate, who is particularly well-known for playing Kelly Bundy on the sitcom Married... with Children, was the 2003 spokesperson for the Lee National Denim Day. Christina's mother, Nancy Priddy, is a breast cancer survivor. [6]

• 2002 - Actress Melina Kanakaredes, star of the CBS TV show CSI:NY as Detective Stella Bonasera, was the 2002 spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day. A friend of hers was diagnosed with breast cancer. [7]

• 2001 - Actress Lucy Liu, co-star in the film Charlie's Angels and on TV's Ally McBeal, was the 2001 spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day. Liu was once diagnosed with a non-cancerous breast lump. [8]

• 2000 - Actor Rob Lowe, perhaps best known for playing Sam Seaborn in the TV show The West Wing, was the first male spokesperson for the Lee National Denim Day. His grandmother and great-grandmother both suffered from breast cancer. [9]

• 1999 - Actress Patricia Arquette, who stars as the psychic Allison DuBois on NBC's TV show Medium, was the 1999 spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day. Patricia's mother died from breast cancer in 1997. [10]

• 1998 - Actress Yasmine Bleeth, most famous for her acting role as Caroline Holden on the worldwide-syndicated TV show Baywatch, was the 1998 spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day. Yasmine's mother died from inflammatory breast cancer when Yasmine was only 20 years old. [11]

• 1996 - Professional Basketball star Rebecca Lobo, whose mother is a breast cancer survivor, was the 1996 spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day. In 1996, Rebecca and her mother, RuthAnn Lobo, collaborated on a book entitled The Home Team [12], which dealt with RuthAnn's battle with breast cancer.

Trivia

The manufacturer of Lee Jeans, VF Corporation, is also a leader in the manufacturing of intimate apparel such as Vassarette, Bestform, and Lily of France and has been around for more than 118 years.

See also

• Lee Jeans

External links

• Lee National Denim Day
• Lee Jeans