Music Icon Cher Signs on to Chair New Habitat For Humanity National Program
August 16 2004 - 8:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Music Icon Cher Signs on to Chair New Habitat For Humanity National
Program Raise the Roof to Impact Local Communities Where Artists
Tour AMERICUS, Ga., and HOUSTON, Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Habitat
for Humanity and Clear Channel Entertainment are thrilled to
announce that legendary music artist Cher has agreed to serve as
honorary chair for a new charitable community initiative called
"Raise the Roof." What began as a touching birthday tribute to the
artist has now evolved into a national program involving artists of
all music genres and is aimed at building homes for needy families
in the name of a selected artist. Cher's concert performers and
crew secretly teamed with Habitat for Humanity to build a Habitat
House in her name during their tour stop in Minneapolis last
spring. She was taken to the construction site where she had a
chance to see the work done by her crew, and she met the single
mother and her child who were the prospective homeowners. This
creative and very moving tribute to Cher sparked the idea to
involve more artists and construct more homes across the country
while these artists are on tour. "This was such an incredibly
special gift and one that really touched my heart," said Cher.
"It's a cause all artists can get behind because it provides an
opportunity to make a tangible, tremendously powerful impact on
someone's life and in the communities where they entertain." Raise
the Roof was developed specifically with the music community in
mind: well-known artists lend their name and their support to a
house- building project in a community where the artist is
performing on tour, and corporate sponsors, community volunteers
and a few lucky fans will have an opportunity to work alongside the
artist on the construction. Clear Channel Entertainment has
committed to fund a significant portion of the expense to build
each house, with the balance being raised among corporate sponsors,
Habitat supporters, fans and in some cases, the artists themselves.
Artists that have participated in Raise the Roof events to date
include Blink 182, which worked on the 1,101st house in
Pennsylvania and performed in Harrisburg; John Mayer, who worked on
Angelia Brown's home and performed in San Antonio; and Linkin Park,
which built for a family in need in Noblesville, Ind. The Dave
Matthews Band will help build a Raise the Roof house later this
month in Houston. "Music artists have a record of charitable
service that sets the bar for other entertainers and we are so
happy that Cher has agreed to lend her name and support to this
effort," said Kimberly Bowron, senior vice president, corporate
culture and philanthropy at Clear Channel Entertainment. "With her
leadership backing Raise the Roof, we know that the program will be
a big success for Habitat." Chris Clarke, senior vice president of
Communications for Habitat for Humanity agrees. "Cher's involvement
is such a privilege and it is certainly an inspiration to our
volunteers, the families who benefit from this program, and the
other artists who become involved," said Clarke. "We were so
enthusiastic when the initial house build was proposed to honor
Cher. Having her graciously extending this opportunity beyond that
one home just shows what a big heart she has." For more information
or to get involved with the Raise the Roof(TM), call (713) 693-8263
or go to http://www.habitat.org/ . About Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity International, based in Americus, Ga., is a
Christian ministry dedicated to eliminating poverty housing. By the
end of 2005, Habitat will have built its 200,000th house and more
than one million people will be living in Habitat homes they helped
build and are buying through no- profit, zero-interest mortgages.
http://www.habitat.org/ About Clear Channel Entertainment Clear
Channel Entertainment, a leading producer and marketer of live
entertainment events is a subsidiary of Clear Channel
Communications (NYSE: CCU), a global leader in the away-from-home
advertising industry. Clear Channel Entertainment currently owns,
operates and/or exclusively books approximately 130 live
entertainment venues, including nearly 100 in North America and
more than 30 in Europe. In 2003, 69 million people attended
approximately 32,000 events promoted and/or produced by the
company, including live music events; Broadway, West End and
touring theatrical shows; family entertainment shows; museum
exhibitions, and specialized sports and motor sports events. In
addition, the company's independently operated athlete
representation business, SFX, provides management, marketing and
financial consulting services to many of the world's top
professional athletes. Clear Channel Entertainment also provides
marketing services through LIVE Channel, a company dedicated to
creating and executing live events for companies seeking brand
promotion. Clear Channel Entertainment operates throughout North
America, Europe, and Australia. More information may be found by
visiting http://www.cc.com/ and http://www.clearchannel.com/ .
Certain statements in this release constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause
the actual results performance or achievements of the Company to be
materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by such forward- looking
statements. Visit our website at http://www.clearchannel.com/ .
DATASOURCE: Clear Channel Entertainment; Habitat for Humanity
International CONTACT: Jean Gonsoulin of Clear Channel
Entertainment, +1-713-693-8600, or ; or Joedy Isert of Habitat for
Humanity International, +1-229-924-6935, ext. 2330, or ; or Ray
Yeung, , or Michele Clarke, , both of Brainerd Communicators, Inc.,
+1-212-986-6667, for Clear Channel Entertainment Web site:
http://www.clearchannel.com/ http://www.cc.com/
http://www.habitat.org/
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