Morgan Freeman Appears in New PSA Asking Americans to Volunteer for Others' Health

Morgan Freeman Appears in New PSA Asking Americans to Volunteer for Others'
Health

PSA Developed With Support From The Medco Foundation's "Give Health A Hand"
Initiative

Part of New Volunteer Initiative Called iParticipate Led By The Entertainment
Industry Foundation

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Academy Award-winning actor
Morgan Freeman appears in a new Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) public
service announcement that encourages Americans to volunteer their time to care
for someone else's health. The spot is one of a series of PSAs that all major
broadcast networks - ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC - will launch this fall as part of
the EIF'siParticipate national initiative to promote service and volunteering.

The 30-second spot featuring Freeman likens volunteers to superheroes. While
superheroes may fly and bend steel, becoming a real hero is as simple as
volunteering for someone else's health. "By providing comfort, lending a hand,
or simply keeping us on track. Everyone's health needs a hero. Who will you
look out for?" Freeman asks.

Freeman dedicates much of his time to giving back as the founder of PLAN!T
NOW, an organization focused on natural disaster preparedness. Initially
founded in response to the wake of death and destruction left by Hurricane
Ivan on the island of Grenada, PLAN!T NOW advocates empowerment of people
through information and connection, and creates dialogue between people living
in hurricane and severe-storm affected areas and those who should prepare in
coastal regions of the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Produced by filmmaker Jesse Dylan with his agency FreeForm, the PSA asks
Americans to find a volunteer opportunity at wwwiParticipate.org. The PSA was
developed with support from Medco Health Solutions, Inc., in conjunction with
the Medco Foundation and its "Give Heath A Hand" program, which has teamed
with iParticipate to offer every American the opportunity to close gaps in our
healthcare system and help others get healthy.

"Through our collaboration with the Entertainment Industry Foundation we hope
to inspire all Americans to become actively involved in addressing healthcare
issues. Solving the healthcare crisis begins with each of us as individuals
reaching out - one person to another," said Jay Silverstein, a director of the
Medco Foundation. "The Medco Foundation is considering ways to collaborate
with those on the front line of health care, and to provide critical
information that could help improve the health of family and friends."

EIF is mobilizing the entire entertainment community around the
ground-breaking, multi-year iParticipate campaign, which promotes a new way of
thinking about service and seeks to persuade millions more Americans to
volunteer regularly. As a centerpiece, the major broadcast networks and
others will spotlight service through scripted programming, segments and PSAs
with inspirational messages and storylines about volunteerism. More than 60
shows have signed up to participate.

Other elements of EIF iParticipate initiative include:

-- a dedicated website iParticipate.org, designed to make it easier than
ever before for millions of Americans to find volunteer opportunities
in
their local communities across five key areas of service: Children and
Education, Community Health and Wellness, Financial Security,
Environmental Conservation, and Support for Veterans and Military
Families. The website features calendars of events, maps, digital
tool
kits and uses the power of social networking vehicles like Facebook,
making it simple for individuals not only to volunteer, but to recruit
friends to join them;
-- a series of celebrity-driven public service announcements that will
reinforce the importance of volunteerism. Blythe Danner, Gwyneth
Paltrow, Faith Hill, and Matthew McConaughey are among the performers
featured in the PSAs.

-- grants from the Entertainment Industry Foundation to key volunteer
organizations to help build capacity to accept, train and deploy
volunteers.

iParticipate was recently launched in New York's Times Square. EIF was joined
by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and 15 mayors from around the
country, numerous celebrities, including Ashton Kutcher, Tyler Perry, Tim Daly
(ABC), Christine Baranski (CBS), Randy Jackson (FOX), and Michelle
Trachtenberg (NBC), among others, and key service groups to launch the
initiative.

The rate at which Americans volunteer regularly has not increased in 40 years
and has generally remained around 26%, according to a survey conducted by the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nearly half of all people who currently
volunteer started because they were asked by someone they know.

About The Medco Foundation
The Medco Foundation was established with the generous support of Medco Health
Solutions, Inc. The Foundation focuses on supporting activities aimed at
educating and informing the general public about health, wellness and medicine
safety issues; providing low income, disadvantaged and other distressed
populations and communities with access to medicine and information about
medicine; and fostering and promoting opportunities for volunteerism and civic
engagement generally. The Medco Foundation is in the process of applying to
the Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3) corporation.
For more information, go to http://www.givehealthahand.org.

About the Entertainment Industry Foundation
The Entertainment Industry Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, is the
leading charitable organization of entertainment industry, and has distributed
hundreds of millions of dollars to support programs addressing critical
health, education and social issues. Visit www.eifoundation.org or
www.iParticipate.org.

SOURCE The Entertainment Industry Foundation

Maurine Slutzky, Entertainment Industry Foundation, +1-213-240-3923,
mslutzky@eifoundation.org