July 25, 2005
Child-Designed Dunkin' Donuts Box to Debut in July
For the first time in its 55-year history, the Dunkin' Donuts donut box has been designed by a child. She is not an acclaimed artist, but a very brave eight-year-old girl named Lilly. Lilly is a patient at the world-renowned Jimmy Fund Clinic at Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
These unique boxes are the result of a drawing contest sponsored by the Dunkin' Donuts franchisees and conducted at the Jimmy Fund Clinic in Boston. Lilly's drawing will emblazon the Dunkin' Donuts dozen box for a limited time only. Entitled "Sunset on the Summer Sea," her colorful artwork will adorn 300,000 donut boxes throughout Rhode Island, Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.
"The goal of this summer's design is to help bring our franchisees' passion for the Jimmy Fund to their consumers," said Patty Healy, Director of Marketing and Brand Relations for Dunkin' Donuts Northeast Distribution Center. "Lilly's artwork captures the essence of the franchisees' commitment to funding cancer research – the brilliance of a young life and the outlook toward a bright future."
"Lilly loves to draw," said the young artist's mother. "She was thrilled to have her artwork chosen by Dunkin' Donuts. It's so nice for her to have such a positive thing happen at the end of a long year of chemotherapy treatment."
Lilly will represent Dunkin' Donuts at the August 29 Boston Red Sox game by throwing out the first pitch. The Boston Red Sox will also be presenting the Dunkin' Donuts Northeast franchisees with the Boston Red Sox-Jimmy Fund Award (formerly the Yawkey Award), the Jimmy Fund's highest honor, for the franchisees long-standing commitment to cancer research.
To date, Dunkin' Donuts franchise owners in New England have raised more than $3.3 million by hosting the largest, private fundraising golf tournament for the Jimmy Fund. Dollars raised at this event are directed to a program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute called "Dunkin' Donuts Rising Stars." Rising Stars are doctors at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute who are conducting research on some of the toughest forms of cancer in the hopes of finding less toxic, more effective treatments and cures. Dunkin' Donuts support helps them pursue innovative avenues of research and establish the results needed to receive government backing.
Support for the Dunkin' Donuts Rising Stars Program comes exclusively from donations within the Dunkin' Donuts community – franchise owners from across New England, Dunkin' Brands – the parent company of Dunkin' Donuts, consumers, and valued business partners. Each year, a golf tournament is held in honor of a colleague and former Dana-Farber patient who succumbed to cancer in 1998. This year's George Mandell Memorial Golf Tournament will be held on Aug. 9, 2005, and is expected to raise more than $1 million.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, with the support of its Jimmy Fund, provides expert, compassionate care to children and adults with cancer while advancing the understanding, treatment, cure and prevention of cancer and related diseases. Founded in 1947, Boston's Dana-Farber is renowned for its unique blending of basic and clinical research and is a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.
