MEMPHIS, Tennessee, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — This holiday season, Luis Fonsi, Sofia Vergara, Jennifer Aniston, Michael Strahan, Luis Fonsi and Jimmy Kimmel will once again join St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital^® National Outreach Director Marlo Thomas in promoting the St. Jude Thanks and Giving^® campaign. Each celebrity supporter will star alongside St. Jude patients in national television spots and digital shorts encouraging people to support St. Jude while holiday shopping.

Photo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440936
Photo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440937

Now in its thirteenth year, the St. Jude Thanks and Giving^® campaign has transformed the holiday season into a time of giving thanks by raising awareness and funds for the ongoing battle to end childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Throughout November and December, consumers are asked to support the campaign by shopping at more than 70 leading national brands and sharing what they #GiveThanks for using social media.

“It means so much to me to be a part of the St. Jude family,” said Luis Fonsi. “St. Jude is an amazing place. They share their research with the world, leading a global effort to understand, treat, and defeat childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It has been an honor to participate and support the St. Jude Thanks and Giving campaign, an example of giving thanks this holiday season. Every donation counts to help save the lives of these precious children.”

The national television commercials will debut Thanksgiving week on Monday Nov. 21 and run through the end of the year. In addition to national awareness commercials, celebrity friends will support St. Jude on #GivingTuesday and throughout the campaign by sharing what they #GiveThanks for.

In addition, Univision Network’s beloved Karina Banda, Carlos Calderon, Pamela Silva Conde, Chiquinquira Delgado, Francisca Lachapel, Satcha Pretto, William Valdes and more will lend their support to the campaign in the form of online videos, social media support, and participation in campaign events.

“We are deeply grateful for our incredible friends who lend their time and talents to support St. Jude,” said Marlo Thomas, National Outreach Director for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “It means so much to us that year after year they open their hearts to the children of St. Jude. We are blessed to have their unwavering support and their generous spirit that helps St. Jude raise the funds that allows our doctors and scientists to continue their groundbreaking research, which leads to lifesaving treatments. And lets us keep my father’s founding promise that no family receives a bill from St. Jude for anything — not for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.”

Supporters will also be able to purchase merchandise designed by their favorite celebrities to benefit St. Jude. For the second year, St. Jude worked with the family of Maya Angelou to design a one-of-a-kind glass lantern. St. Jude partner HSN collaborated with celebrity friends including Melissa McCarthy, Kristin Chenoweth, Christie Brinkley, Iris Apfel, Giuliana Rancic, Marlo Thomas and more in designing a Holiday Ornament Collection.

Created in 2004 by Marlo, Terre and Tony Thomas – children of St. Jude founder Danny Thomas – the St. Jude Thanks and Giving^® campaign began as a holiday-focused fundraising effort and has grown into an annual tradition that unites celebrities, media, retail and corporate partners to support the lifesaving mission of St Jude.

The campaign’s national television spots will air on network and cable television channels, as well as online, in both English and Spanish. In addition, a star-studded St. Jude Thanks and Giving movie trailer appears in theatres nationwide – including Regal Entertainment Group, Cinemark USA, Carmike Cinemas, Malco Theatres and many others. It is also featured via in-flight videos on American Airlines, in the American Way magazine, as well as in Delta Airlines’ Sky Magazine. In addition, AccentHealth, America’s leading waiting room media network, shows the St. Jude PSA in physician offices around the country. All of the spots, as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, will debut online in late November.

To join the fight against childhood cancer this holiday season:

• Donate at stjude.org and visit the site to learn more.
• Shop with participating businesses and donate at the register. Visit stjude.org for a complete list of partners.
• Follow @StJude on social media and find a photo (or snap a new one) of what you are thankful for. Then post the photo to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook tagging @StJude and #GiveThanks.

About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital:
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other deadly diseases. St. Jude has the world’s best survival rates for the most aggressive childhood cancers, and treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since we opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent, and we won’t stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude freely shares the discoveries we make, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing and food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org or following St. Jude on facebook.com/stjude and twitter.com/stjude.