Captain Morgan Donates $150,000 to Loyola Recovery Foundation

Contribution From Brand's First Mate Fund Establishes Operation Economic Freedom Project and Provides Jobs for Military Spouses

News provided by

Diageo

Jun 08, 2011, 02:30 ET

NEW YORK, June 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Captain Morgan brand announced today a $150,000 donation to the Loyola Recovery Foundation, based in Pittsford, N.Y., through its First Mate Fund, which was established by the brand in late 2010 to support responsible drinking initiatives and other programs that benefit the community.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110215/NY48182LOGO )

Operation Economic Freedom, a program of the Loyola Recovery Foundation, focuses on providing job opportunities for veterans, their families and others affiliated with the military by offering valuable skills-based training. The donation from the First Mate Fund will be used to recruit and train military spouses to serve as Health Support Specialists and establish a home-based call center to offer assistance to veterans actively recovering from alcohol abuse and other health conditions.

"This project was conceived to serve at-risk military families suffering from economic distress due to multiple deployments by developing home-based employment opportunities for their spouses, enabling them to work from home and during hours that are convenient to them," said Christopher Wilkins, President and CEO of Loyola Recovery Foundation. "Thanks to the generous support of the Captain Morgan brand, not only are we able to create more than 30 part-time positions for military spouses, but we've also developed a working model for other military centers across the country. This creates protection against economic stress by providing opportunity for talented, motivated military spouses to take care of soldiers."

"We're proud to support Operation Economic Freedom and the work they're doing to help military personnel and their families," said Tom Herbst, Director of Marketing, Rums for Diageo. "It's often very difficult for military families to make ends meet at home, especially in rural areas. Providing a critical service to veterans and employment to their spouses was a natural fit for the First Mate Fund."

To date, Captain Morgan has contributed nearly $500,000 to national and local non-profit organizations through the Fund, including Designated Drivers Foundation, Feeding America Tampa Bay, the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and various food banks.

To support the First Mate Fund, upload a picture of your Captain's Pose and share your legendary story at www.Facebook.com/CaptainMorganUSA, and the Captain will donate $1 per Pose in his quest for One Million Poses and one million dollars to charity.

For more information about Loyola Recovery Foundation, visit http://www.loyolarecovery.com/.

About One Million Poses and the First Mate Fund

The Captain's journey to collect "One Million Poses" officially set sail with the creation of "The World's Largest Pose," a 180 ft. human mosaic stretching the length of the field at New Meadowlands Stadium on Nov. 5, 2010. Adult consumers are encouraged to visit Facebook.com/CaptainMorganUSA to upload photos or videos of their Pose, along with the legendary stories that helped inspire them.

For every Pose uploaded, Captain Morgan will donate $1 to the First Mate Fund, whose mission is to support responsible drinking initiatives and other programs that benefit the community. Captain Morgan's ultimate goal is to raise one million

dollars for the Fund via Poses, with a portion of the money being distributed to causes that promote and encourage responsible alcohol consumption.

About Diageo

Diageo (Dee-AH-Gee-O) is the world's leading premium drinks business with an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, beer and wine. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B, Windsor, Buchanan's and Bushmills whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Baileys, Captain Morgan, Jose Cuervo, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is a global company, with its products sold in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people, brands, and performance, visit us at Diageo.com. For our global resource that promotes responsible drinking through the sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, visit DRINKiQ.com.

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