90210 stars Matt Lanter and Jessica Lowndes join campaign that enables hundreds of thousands of teens in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada to take action around youth homelessness
NEW YORK, Jan. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE: ARO), a mall-based specialty retailer of casual and active apparel for young women and men, and teen not-for-profit DoSomething.org announced their fourth annual "Teens for Jeans" campaign today, which expects to collect its one millionth pair of jeans for homeless teens in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. To kick start this year's campaign, Aeropostale will donate 10,000 pairs of brand-new jeans.
The campaign raises awareness about youth homelessness by inspiring teens to donate gently-used jeans, which go directly to local shelters in their communities.
"In 2008, Teens for Jeans started as a simple idea to enable teens to donate in their local communities," explains Aeropostale's SVP of Marketing, Scott Birnbaum. "Three years later, it has become a national campaign poised to collect its one millionth pair of jeans for homeless teens. This initiative has raised awareness of the homeless epidemic and provided jeans to teens in need in every state and throughout Canada and Puerto Rico. Aeropostale is proud to support the fight against teen homelessness."
"We are incredibly excited to partner with Aeropostale again this year for the fourth annual Teens for Jeans campaign," says DoSomething.org's Business Development Representative Brittany Castaneda. "This campaign is really what DoSomething.org is all about - teens joining a huge movement while helping real people right in their own communities."
The fourth annual campaign launches with a new Public Service Announcement from spokespeople Matt Lanter and Jessica Lowndes. The 90210 stars have joined the campaign and challenge teens to help surpass the one million mark and collect as many jeans as possible during the three week campaign.
"I'm excited to be part of an initiative that proves the power of young people," says Matt Lanter. "No teen should go without warm clothes this winter. We want our fans to run jean drives in their schools and communities to help us reach this goal."
"This is something that teenagers can do themselves," adds Jessica Lowndes. "They don't need to give money. They literally just need to go through their closet and make someone's day by donating to a young person in need."
To view their PSA, visit www.teensforjeans.com.
Starting Monday, January 17th until Sunday, February 13th, teens are encouraged to bring in any brand of their gently worn jeans to any Aeropostale store in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. Aeropostale and DoSomething.org will make sure the jeans are donated to one of the 600 local youth shelters that have been selected as partners. As an added bonus for participating, for each pair donated Aeropostale will give an additional 25% off a new pair of jeans, though no purchase is necessary.
In addition to store drop offs, Aeropostale and DoSomething.org are encouraging teenagers to coordinate collection drives in their schools. Schools that collect more than 500 pairs of jeans will receive a banner for their school and recognition on the DoSomething.org and Aeropostale web sites. The school that collects the most jeans will win $5,000 and a party for their entire school. Teens will also have the chance to win signed jeans from Matt, Jessica and other celebrities.
Channel One Networks, Call2Action, Meez.com and Tagged.com are all promoting the "Teens for Jeans" campaign through their networks.
To learn how to get involved or for more information about teen homelessness, visit www.teensforjeans.com.
About Aeropostale, Inc.
Aeropostale, Inc. is a mall-based, specialty retailer of casual apparel and accessories, principally targeting 14 to 17 year-old young women and men through its Aeropostale® stores and 7 to 12 year-old kids through its P.S. from Aeropostale® stores. The Company provides customers with a focused selection of high-quality, active-oriented, fashion and fashion basic merchandise at compelling values. Aeropostale® maintains control over its proprietary brands by designing, sourcing, marketing and selling all of its own merchandise. Aeropostale® products can only be purchased in its Aeropostale stores and online at www.aeropostale.com. P.S. from Aeropostale® products can be purchased in P.S. from Aeropostale® stores and online at www.ps4u.com. The Company currently operates 906 Aeropostale stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico, 59 Aeropostale stores in Canada and 47 P.S. from Aeropostale stores in 13 states.
