WorldWinnerä Launches “Compete for Pink” to Support the Fight against Breast Cancer
First Online Games Site to Guarantee $100,000 Donation to Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
Newton, Mass. - May 5, 2005 - WorldWinner, Inc. (www.worldwinner.com), the leader in online game competitions, today announced the launch of its Compete for Pink program as a continuation of its unique partnership with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Based on overwhelming support from its players during past charitable tournaments for the Komen Foundation, WorldWinner guaranteed a minimum donation of $100,000 to the Komen Foundation. WorldWinner players could push that donation higher by playing more games to benefit the Komen Foundation and its mission to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease.
WorldWinner is once again rallying players, breast cancer survivors, and their friends and families to show their support for the Komen Foundation. "I'm grateful to WorldWinner for helping the fight against breast cancer, and for creating a way for players to get involved," said Kathy Medori, a WorldWinner player and daughter of a breast cancer survivor. "Because of WorldWinner, its amazing players, and organizations like the Komen Foundation, more and more research can be done to fight this horrific disease, which will hopefully result in a cure one day soon."
Beginning today, WorldWinner kicks off Compete for Pink by hosting tournaments of three of its popular online games to benefit the Komen Foundation. The games include SwapIt!, in which players score points by forming lines of three or more of the same objects in a row; Paint Buckets, in which players erase an entire picture before running out of paint buckets or time; and Solitaire Rush. WorldWinner will donate 10 percent of all entry fees collected from designated tournaments to the Komen Foundation to support research and outreach programs. The tournaments run throughout the month of May in honor of Mother's Day and again throughout October for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Furthermore, WorldWinner will donate $25.00 to the Komen Foundation for each new member who registers through www.worldwinner.com/komen, up to a maximum donation of $25,000. The referral program will run continuously throughout the year.
"In 2004, WorldWinner's players came together in a remarkable show of support that raised more than $60,000 for the Komen Foundation," said Stephen Killeen, president and CEO of WorldWinner. "This outpouring of enthusiasm and passion prompted us to dramatically increase our pledge to the Komen Foundation to help spread the message of breast health awareness to WorldWinner's 14 million players, while offering them a special reason to play games online."
"A key to our success at the Komen Foundation is that we collaborate with a variety of organizations to provide creative ways for people to make a difference in the fight against breast cancer," said Cindy Schneible, vice president of cause-related marketing and sponsorship at the Komen Foundation. "We are proud to have the opportunity to partner with WorldWinner to increase breast cancer awareness and allow game lovers nationwide to make a valuable contribution to breast cancer research and outreach programs."
WorldWinner's games, where the outcome is determined by the player's skill, predominantly appeal to women. Nearly 70 percent of WorldWinner's players are female, more than half of them between the ages of 25 and 54. These players are a subset of the 40 million women who comprise the female online games population. Together with the Komen Foundation, WorldWinner encourages gamers everywhere to have fun and Compete for Pink to beat breast cancer.
About WorldWinner, Inc.
WorldWinner (www.worldwinner.com) is the leading global provider of online games for cash and prizes, where the outcome of each competition is determined by the player's skill. With 14 million registered players internationally, WorldWinner hosts more than four million tournaments and awards millions of dollars in prizes every month. The privately held company was founded in 1999 and has received funding from leading venture capital firms, including Zero Stage Capital, HarbourVest Partners and Benchmark Capital. WorldWinner is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts.
About the Komen Foundation
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation was established in 1982 by Nancy Brinker to honor the memory of her sister, Susan G. Komen, who died from breast cancer at the age of 36. Today, the Foundation is an international organization with a network of more than 75,000 active volunteers working through local Affiliates and events like the Komen Race for the Cure® to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease. A global leader in the fight against breast cancer, the Foundation fulfills its mission through support of innovative breast cancer research grants, meritorious awards and educational, scientific and community outreach programs around the world. Together with its Affiliate Network, corporate partners and generous donors, the Komen Foundation has raised more than $740 million for the fight against breast cancer.