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Tuesday, May 5, 2009
American Airlines Launches 2009 'Miles for the Cure' Campaign to Benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure
AAdvantage Members Can Honor Mom, Receive Miles with Donations
FORT WORTH, Texas, May 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As Mother's Day approaches, American Airlines launches its 2009 Miles for the Cure® fundraising campaign, which rewards donors with five AAdvantage® miles for every dollar they contribute to Susan G. Komen for the Cure® with a minimum $25 donation.
American's customers can support the fight against breast cancer by simply visiting www.aa.com/komen to make a donation. In addition to general contributions, gifts can be made to celebrate and honor a loved one's survivorship or in memory of a loved one or friend. When an "In Honor" or "In Memory" gift is received, Komen for the Cure will send a personalized tribute card to the person or family indicated, notifying them of the donation without revealing the amount.
In 2008, Miles for the Cure came close to the $1 million mark, thanks to contributions from nearly 11,000 AAdvantage members.
"We again invite our customers to join us in the fight against breast cancer, and Miles for the Cure is a wonderful way do so, especially with Mother's Day coming up," said Roger Frizzell, American's Vice President - Corporate Communications and Advertising. "American is honored to support an organization and a cause about which we know our customers and employees care so deeply."
American Airlines has supported Susan G. Komen for the Cure for more than 20 years as a national sponsor and last year announced an expanded partnership in becoming the organization's official airline and first-ever Lifetime Promise Partner.
American Airlines pledged to raise a minimum of $1 million annually for eight years to fund Susan G. Komen for the Cure's first Promise Grant, a study of inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. IBC is a very aggressive form of breast cancer. It is called inflammatory breast cancer because its main symptoms are swelling and redness of the breast, which mimic inflammation. Because of these symptoms and the frequent lack of a breast lump, it is often undetectable by mammography and ultrasound. The disease also affects a disproportionate number of younger, premenopausal women who are typically not considered at risk for breast cancer.
American Airlines customers, sponsors and employees helped to exceed the funding goal last year through Miles for the Cure and the annual American Airlines Celebrity Golf and Tennis event, which will mark its 15th year in 2009. These funds allow scientists to find better ways to test diagnostic procedures and new therapies in clinical trials for IBC, as well as garner new information from laboratory models that will lead to better detection and long-term treatments for IBC. M.D. Anderson's Morgan Welch Inflammatory Breast Cancer Clinic is the only facility of its kind devoted to IBC.
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