As U.S. Poverty Rates Increase, Save the Children and Toys”R”Us, Inc. Join
to

Raise Funds and Awareness, While Providing Blankets to Babies in Need

Mark Shriver of Save the Children

Discusses Poverty in America and Its Littlest Victims
www.savethechildren.org

STATISTICS/INFORMATION:

* More than 2.6 million babies across the country are currently
living

in poverty.

* Every 33 seconds a baby is born into poverty in the United
States.

* Both statistics have risen significantly given the economic

environment.

* 85 percent of brain growth occurs in the first three years of
life,

making early childhood development activities essential to a child’s
development.

* Research and experience show, during periods of transition early
in

life, blankets have the power to comfort a child and foster emotional
development; something many infants in need may never experience.

WHAT: Staggering statistics show rates of children living in poverty
rapidly increasing along with unemployment. Many families living in poverty
cannot even afford basic necessities, like blankets for their newborns,
which are invaluable in their ability to help comfort babies when upset or
scared.

With research indicating that children in need face higher levels of stress
and more anxiety-producing situations, the need for baby blankets is even
greater during a child’s early stages of development. And since 85 percent
of brain growth occurs in the first three years of a child’s life, providing
ongoing support to young children living in poverty is essential to ensure
they have a solid foundation for emotional growth and future success.

Save the Children, a global humanitarian agency working to help children in
the United States and around the world, together with Toys”R”Us, Inc., the
world’s leading dedicated toy and baby products retailer, is providing
blankets to babies in need and funding for early childhood development
programs for children and families through an in-store and online
fundraising campaign, Bundled in Hope.

Monetary donations are being accepted at Toys”R”Us and Babies”R”Us stores
and online at Toysrus.com/BundledinHope through Sunday, July 11.

Babies”R”Us Baby Registry users also have the unique opportunity to
encourage friends and family to donate to the campaign directly through
their registries. Meanwhile, celebrity moms, including Faith Hill, Regina
King, Kelly Rutherford and Idina Menzel, among others, have signed on to
support the cause by designing one-of-a-kind baby blankets that will be
auctioned online, from which 100 percent of winning bids will be directed to
the campaign.

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