Betty White and Dolly Parton Join JPMS Fundraising

For the eighth consecutive year, the nationwide network of Paul Mitchell beauty schools will spend the months of February through April raising money for charitable organizations. In 2010, the schools raised an all-time high of $1.2 million, bringing their seven-year total to over $4.6 million.

This year they plan to raise $1.5 million for seven organizations: Leeza Gibbons Memory Foundation, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, Andrew Gomez Dream Foundation, Food 4 Africa, Fran Drescher's Cancer Schmancer Foundation, and newcomers Morris Animal Foundation, represented by Betty White, and Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.



"We're so excited to welcome Betty White and Dolly Parton this year, and we're thrilled to welcome Leeza Gibbons, Donny and Marie Osmond, and Fran Drescher back again," said Paul Mitchell Schools Dean and Cofounder Winn Claybaugh. "All of these incredible superstar celebrities will play an active role in motivating and encouraging our 12,000 future professionals as they take part in thousands of grassroots ‘FUNraisers,' from cut-a-thons and car washes to fashion shows and charity balls. They've also joined an elite group of wonderful celebrities who've supported us in the past, including Larry King and Vidal Sassoon."

Emmy-award winning TV star and animal activist Betty White has served on the Morris Animal Foundation board of trustees since 1971. Since its inception in 1948, the foundation has funded more than 1,600 humane animal health studies. Today, its funding supports more than 200 animal health and welfare research studies each year at the world's most respected research institutions, colleges of veterinary medicine, and zoos. Betty is the organization's president and she has sponsored nearly 30 health studies for the foundation. "Partnering with Paul Mitchell Schools is such a wonderful opportunity to help advance the health and well-being of our animal friends," she said. "On behalf of Morris Animal Foundation, thank you."

Country music superstar Dolly Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1996, to benefit the children of her home county in east Tennessee. She wanted to foster a love of reading among her county's preschool children and their families, and she wanted to ensure that every child would have books, regardless of their family's income. "All of the wonderful folks at Paul Mitchell Schools love kids as much as I do, so it is an honor to work with them to bring the joy of books to kids all over America," Dolly said.

The Magic of Memories dinner, the highlight of the annual fundraising effort, takes place on May 1, 2011, in Newport Beach, California. This year's gala event will be co-hosted by radio and TV personality Leeza Gibbons and John Paul Mitchell Systems CEO John Paul DeJoria, with additional support from Dolly Parton, Betty White, Donny and Marie Osmond, and representatives of the other supported charities. The event celebrates all of the participating schools while raising additional money.

"At our Paul Mitchell Schools' family, we are very proud of our commitment to raising money and awareness for a variety of causes and organizations," Winn Claybaugh says. "We do not spend $300,000 to raise $1 million. Last year, our Paul Mitchell future professionals raised $1.2 million, and we gave $1.2 million to our beneficiaries."