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WRAL and Communities In Schools Launch Second Annual 'School Stuff' Campaign

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RALEIGH — On August 1, WRAL in partnership with Communities In Schools (CIS) will launch the second annual "School Stuff" campaign to collect school supplies for students that do not have the necessary tools for the upcoming school year.

For the entire month of August, WRAL and Communities In Schools are asking the public to drop-off new school supplies including: binders, notebooks, pens, pencils, paper, and folders that will help prepare a child for the school year. Collection barrels will be located at participating

Golden Corral

,

UNC Health Care

and

Rex Healthcare

locations.

"Many of us who now have our own children and grandchildren can remember how exciting it was when we were kids and mom took us shopping for new school supplies in preparation for the impending school year. Today, the cost of those school supplies can approach $75-100 per child, and many families across our great state cannot afford these costs. Accordingly, I encourage every North Carolina citizen who has the means to spend a few extra dollars this August to buy school supplies for children in need of them. Thanks to WRAL-TV, to all of our local sponsors and to those who will give of their time and money, many children in our viewing area will be going back to school this year with new 'School Stuff'," said Mike Stephens, Executive Director of Communities In Schools of North Carolina.

On Tuesday, July 30, WRAL hosted a kick-off breakfast at the WRAL studios for CIS coordinators from a 10-county area, CIS community volunteers, and community partners Golden Corral, UNC Health Care and Rex Healthcare to celebrate the launch of this campaign. The campaign goal for this year is to serve students in need of school supplies across the WRAL viewing area.

WRAL viewers can expect to see public service announcements encouraging viewers to donate school supplies along with weekly news stories charting the progress of the School Stuff collection efforts.

"For WRAL-TV, this initiative fits nicely into our overall efforts to make the lives of our children a little better in North Carolina. It joins such important station campaigns as For the Children, Coats for the Children and various other telethons and public service campaigns all directed towards serving our children," said Jim Hefner, WRAL-TV Vice President and General Manager.

WRAL-TV5 and Communities In Schools of NC thanks its community partners at Golden Corral, UNC Health Care and Rex Healthcare for their support of this project. Also, special thanks extended to Metro Productions, Beazer Homes and Longistics Transportation for their in-kind support.

About Communities In Schools:

Communities In Schools

connects needed community resources with schools to help students stay in school, learn needed skills and prepare to become productive citizens. Last year, more than 63,000 North Carolina students and family members benefited from CIS programs, which include mentoring, health care and prevention programs, internships, after school programs and community service. Ninety-five percent of North Carolina's CIS students stayed in school last year aiding in the reduction of school drop out rates for the state.

For additional information about the "School Stuff" campaign:

Loretta Harper-Arnold, WRAL-TV Community Relations Director (919) 821-8652 lharper@wral.com

For more information about CIS volunteer opportunities:

Mike Stephens, Executive Director Communities In Schools of NC (919) 832-2700 mstephens@cisnc.org

Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc. is a diversified communications company which owns and/or operates

WRAL-TV

,

WRAL-Digital

,

WRAL-FM

,

Microspace

, the

North Carolina News Network

,

DTV Plus

and

Wolfpack Sports Marketing

in Raleigh, NC;

WJZY-TV

and

WWWB-TV

in Charlotte, NC; WILM-TV in Wilmington, NC;

WRAZ-TV

and the

Durham Bulls Baseball Club

in Durham, NC; and the

Myrtle Beach Pelicans Baseball Club

in Myrtle Beach, SC.

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