Olive Garden's Pasta For Pennies Marks 10th Anniversary

This month, students throughout the United States will kick off this year's Pasta For Pennies campaign and the 10th anniversary of the program by collecting spare change for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

"Olive Garden's Pasta For Pennies program has done so much to raise awareness of leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, in addition to generating important funding for research and patient services," said Dwayne Howell, president and CEO of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. "Thanks in large part to the students, teachers and parents who have come together over the years to support Pasta For Pennies, we continue to make great strides in the search for a cure while improving the lives of patients and their families who are battling blood cancers."

This year, more than 2,000 schools and 800,000 students throughout the United States will participate in Pasta For Pennies during a three-week period between January and April. The class collecting the most money in each school receives a pasta party courtesy of Olive Garden. Olive Garden also hosts kick-off lunches in restaurants for representatives of participating schools in each city and provides marketing support and materials for the program.

"Pasta For Pennies has introduced thousands of our nation's youth to the concept of charity and community involvement," said Drew Madsen, president of Olive Garden. "We hope that we have helped to create a generation of caring individuals who understand that their efforts make a difference in the lives of others."

Olive Garden's Pasta For Pennies is a grassroots effort that last year raised more than $2.2 million for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and $17 million since 1994. Visit the Society's School and Youth Web site at www.schoolandyouth.org to find out how to register your school for Pasta For Pennies.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, headquartered in White Plains, NY, is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. Since its founding in 1949, the Society's mission has been to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Last year alone, the Society made more than 445,000 patient contacts through services provided at its home office and by its 62 chapters nationwide. For more information about blood cancer, visit www.LLS.org or call the Society's Information Resource Center at (800) 955-4572.

Olive Garden is the leading restaurant in the Italian dining segment with 532 restaurants, more than 60,000 employees and $2 billion in annual sales. Olive Garden is a division of Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE:DRI) , the world's largest casual dining company. For more information, visit Olive Garden's Web site at www.olivegarden.com.

Logos, product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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