Chili's And Lady Antebellum Hit A High Note For St. Jude Children's Research Hospital®

DALLAS, Aug. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Chili's® Grill & Bar announced the start of its longstanding, annual fundraiser benefitting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital®, which is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. To celebrate the 13^th year of the Create-A-Pepper campaign, the brand partnered with Grammy Award-winning band Lady Antebellum to raise awareness and encourage fans and guests to lend a voice for the lifesaving work of St. Jude.

"St. Jude has always been an organization that we are quick to jump in and support," said Lady A's Hillary Scott. "As a band and as parents, we love the work they do for kids fighting really tough stuff like cancer. It's something really close to our hearts and we're excited to be part of what Chili's is doing to help advocate for these kids and their families." 

In addition to teaming up with Lady Antebellum this year, Chili's set out to build a larger community around this noteworthy cause by:

• Incorporating Ziosk® tabletop technology, available on every restaurant table, to make it easy for guests to donate and interactively learn more about the campaign    
• Providing the opportunity for "My Chili's Rewards" loyalty program members to receive bonus points for their donations
• Expanding the campaign to Canada for the first time so guests visiting more than 1,250 restaurants across the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada can participate

"The Create-A-Pepper for St. Jude campaign is our favorite time of the year," said Wyman Roberts, CEO and president of Brinker International and president of Chili's Grill & Bar. "The passion our team members have for making an impact on St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, its patients and their families is something that can be felt when you walk into the restaurant. I'm honored to be a part of an amazing team of people who are raising funds so St. Jude can focus on what matters most – finding cures and saving children."

Now through Sept. 14, guests at participating Chili's restaurants can support the lifesaving work at St. Jude in several ways:

• Decorate a signature chili-pepper shaped coloring sheet and share the design on social media using the hashtag #CreateAPepper  
• Add a donation to  the check using the tabletop tablet located on every restaurant table
• Purchase a Create-A-Pepper T-shirt for $12 or a pair of St. Jude branded sunglasses for $5 when dining in restaurant*
• Complete St. Jude related challenges through the "My Chili's Rewards" loyalty program
• Dine at Chili's on Monday, Sept. 14 for Donate Profits Day, when the brand donates profits, at least $100,000, to St. Jude
• Participate through www.createapepper.com  and join the conversation on Chili's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

*66 percent of the purchase price of each T-shirt and 80 percent of the purchase price of each pair of sunglasses sold will be donated to St. Jude.

Chili's has partnered with St. Jude since 2002 and raised more than $54 million, one of the largest single-partner donations in the history of the hospital. What began as a seven-restaurant fundraiser with only crayons and chili-pepper shaped coloring sheets as a way for guests to donate grew into a national fundraising campaign that takes place at more than 1,250 Chili's every September as part of National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Today, the Chili's and St. Jude partnership continues to grow based on the mutual goal of doing everything possible to end childhood cancer. It's because of partnerships like this that no family ever receives a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food because all a family should have to worry about is helping their child live.

To get involved in Chili's Create-A-Pepper for St. Jude campaign, visit www.createapepper.com and become a fan or follow Chili's on Facebook (www.facebook.com/chilis), Twitter (www.twitter.com/chilis and Instagram (www.instagram.com/chilis/?hl=en).

About Chili's Grill & Bar

Chili's^® Grill & Bar is the flagship brand of Dallas-based Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT), a recognized leader in casual dining. Chili's offers a variety of Fresh Tex and Fresh Mex favorites at more than 1,550 locations in 30 countries and two territories. In addition to Chili's, Brinker owns and operates Maggiano's Little Italy^®. Follow news about Chili's on Facebook (facebook.com/chilis), Twitter (twitter.com/chilis), YouTube (youtube.com/chilis) and Pinterest (pinterest.com/chilis). For more brand-related information, visit chilis.com.

About St. Jude Children's Research Hospital®

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. St. Jude has the world's best survival rates for the most aggressive childhood cancers, and treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since we opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent in the next decade. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs we make, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org or following St. Jude on facebook.com/stjude and twitter.com/stjude.

About Lady Antebellum

Lady Antebellum's fifth studio album, 747, has already spawned the PLATINUM certified multi-week No. One hit, "Bartender." The seven-time GRAMMY winning group's latest single is the fast-paced anthem "Long Stretch of Love," which "could easily refer to the Nashville trio's soaring career trajectory" (OC Register) on the heels of nine chart-topping hits. The new album follows six PLATINUM singles, over 11 million albums sold worldwide and "Vocal Group of the Year" honors from both the CMA and ACMs three years in a row. The band is currently selling out arenas and amphitheaters on the North American leg of their headlining WHEELS UP 2015 TOUR, which will continue through the fall. For more information and a full list of appearances visit, www.ladyantebellum.com.

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SOURCE Chili's Grill & Bar

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