Spirit Halloween Raises $1 Million to Bring Holiday Celebrations to Hospitalized Children

Spirit Halloween Raises $1 Million to Bring Holiday Celebrations to
Hospitalized Children
Spirit of Children Program Brings Halloween to Hospital Child Life Departments
Across the U.S. and Canada

NEW YORK, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Spirit Halloween, the country's leading
seasonal Halloween retailer, announced today that its 2009 Spirit of Children
campaign has successfully raised a record-breaking one million dollars in
customer, vendor and partner donations as well as merchandise contributions.
One hundred percent of the money raised will go to improving the comfort and
experience of pediatric patients through the purchase of items including
books, computers, and entertainment centers, games specifically designed for
children with physical challenges as well as toys that are fun, educational
and therapeutic for hospital child life departments. This year, Spirit
Halloween hosted Halloween parties for children at over 50 participating
hospitals. Since its inception in 2006, Spirit of Children has raised more
than $1.8 million for hospitals all across the United States and Canada.

"Spirit of Children is a way for Spirit Halloween to bring the fun and fantasy
of Halloween to children who otherwise might not be able to enjoy the
holiday," said Steven Silverstein, Spirit Halloween President and CEO. "The
positive response we receive from the hospitals and the excitement of the
children this program touches is extremely meaningful for our organization,
the hundreds of our employees who participate on their own time, and our
customers who donate generously. We hope to continue to grow this initiative
in the years to come."

The Spirit of Children program has built significant momentum, receiving
support from participating hospitals and Spirit employees in every region of
the nation. The program has expanded its reach from 11 hospitals in 2006 to 74
hospitals in 2009, including such leading medical institutions as Texas
Children's, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Maimonides Infants and
Children's Hospitals, Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA, Yale-New Haven
Children's Hospital and Phoenix Children's Hospital as well as ten Shriner's
Hospital for Children locations throughout the country.

"Thanks to the Spirit of Children program and generosity of the community,
we've received more than $150,000 in the last two years," said Jamie Byrd,
Child Life Manager at Texas Children's Hospital. "With this money, we've been
able to greatly improve the Child Life facilities at Texas Children's by
adding a variety of amenities to improve the hospital stay for our young
patients."

The Spirit of Children program takes a three-pronged approach to providing
holiday excitement and support for children during hospital stays. Volunteer
Spirit employees bring Halloween celebrations to participating hospital child
departments with costumes, pumpkin painting, costume parades, Halloween games
and crafts, offering a temporary escape for the young patients, in hospitals
across the United States and Canada. Additionally, the program raises needed
funds through the generous donations of Spirit Halloween's customers and
partners as well as from the profits generated through the sale of exclusively
designed eco-friendly trick-or-treat bags, available at all Spirit Halloween
stores.

For a full list of participating hospitals and additional information
regarding the Spirit of Children program, please visit
www.spirithalloween.com/spiritofchildrenday/.

About Spirit Halloween
Spirit Halloween (www.spirithalloween.com) is the largest seasonal Halloween
retailer in the country with 725 locations in strip centers and malls across
the United States and Canada. The authority on all things Halloween, Spirit
has offered one-stop shopping -- ranging from costumes to decor and party
goods to accessories -- for more than 25 years. In addition to being a fun
and interactive event for shoppers, Spirit stores offer complete selections of
costumes and accessories for infants/toddlers, children, 'tweens, teens,
adults, and even pets. At the heart of Spirit Halloween is the Spirit of
Children program, which is devoted to bringing the fun, imagination and
fantasy of Halloween to pediatric patients in hospitals and rehabilitation
centers across the United States.

SOURCE Spirit Halloween

Heather Golin of Spirit Halloween, +1-609-645-5575,
heather.golin@spencergifts.com; or Sushma Dwivedi of Fleishman-Hillard,
+1-212-453-2381, sushma.dwivedi@fleishman.com, for Spirit Halloween