Former All-Star Pitcher David Cone Issues $1 Million Challenge to MLB Pitchers to Help "Speed Up Relief" for the American Red Cross

MORRISTOWN, N.J., Sept. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, former All-Star pitcher David Cone has teamed up with the makers of new Bayer® Advanced Aspirin to issue the Speed Up Your Relief: Million Dollar Challenge to Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers and fans. If 30 strikes are thrown 100 mph or faster between Sept. 14 and Sept. 20, the makers of Bayer Advanced Aspirin pledge to donate $1 million to the American Red Cross.

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"I'm challenging current MLB pitchers to bring the heat this week for a good cause – helping the Red Cross," said David Cone, former MLB pitcher. "I know firsthand how essential speed is in baseball, but it is just as important for relief efforts and relief from tough pain. Through the Speed Up Your Relief: Million Dollar Challenge, we hope to help bring fast relief to those in need."

Fans can get involved in the Speed Up Your Relief efforts by visiting www.SpeedUpYourRelief.com to make a personal donation to the American Red Cross. To help provide relief twice as fast to those in need, the makers of Bayer Advanced Aspirin will also match two dollars for every dollar donated through SpeedUpYourRelief.com during the challenge week, up to a total of $50,000.

Bayer is committed to fast relief for both tough pain and relief efforts. In May of this year, Bayer launched new Bayer Advanced Aspirin, which can provide pain relief twice as fast as before*, and became the "Official Pain Reliever of Major League Baseball." The Speed Up Your Relief: Million Dollar Challenge is an extension of Bayer's current campaign to provide fast relief for the Red Cross.

Bayer and the Red Cross partnered earlier this summer on the Speed Up Your Relief campaign which generates $10 donations for strikes 95 mph and over thrown throughout the 2011 Major League Baseball regular and post-season.

To date, the makers of Bayer Advanced Aspirin have donated over $110,000 to the Red Cross through the Speed Up Your Relief program.  

"Bayer is stepping up to the plate once again to help the American Red Cross provide fast relief for those in need by issuing the game-changing Speed Up Your Relief: Million Dollar Challenge to Major League Baseball pitchers," said Charley Shimanksi, Senior Vice President, Disaster Services, American Red Cross. "Donations raised through programs like Speed Up Your Relief help the Red Cross provide relief in the form of food, shelter, emotional support, health services, clean-up supplies, and comfort items to those affected by the nearly 70,000 disasters each year."

Since March 31, 2011, the American Red Cross has launched 46 separate relief operations in 31 states.

For more information about the Speed Up Your Relief campaign or to make a donation to the Red Cross, visit SpeedUpYourRelief.com.

About Bayer Advanced Aspirin

Bayer® Advanced Aspirin temporarily relieves headache, menstrual pain, minor pain of arthritis, muscle pain, pain and fever of colds, and toothache. Adults and children, 12 and over, should carefully read and follow complete directions on the product label. For children under 12 years, consult a doctor prior to using Bayer Advanced Aspirin.

About Bayer HealthCare

The Bayer Group is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer HealthCare, a subgroup of Bayer AG with annual sales of EUR 16.913 billion (2010), is one of the world's leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry and is based in Leverkusen, Germany. The company combines the global activities of the Animal Health, Consumer Care, Medical Care and Pharmaceuticals divisions. Bayer HealthCare's aim is to discover and manufacture products that will improve human and animal health worldwide. Bayer HealthCare has a global workforce of 55,700 employees (Dec 31, 2010) and is represented in more than 100 countries. Find more information at www.bayerhealthcare.com.

About Bayer HealthCare's Consumer Care Division

The Consumer Care division of Bayer HealthCare, is headquartered in Morristown, N.J. Bayer's Consumer Care division is among the largest marketers of over-the-counter medications and nutritional supplements in the world. Some of the most trusted and recognizable brands in the world today come from the Bayer portfolio of products. These include Bayer® Aspirin, ALEVE®, Alka-Seltzer Plus®, Bactine®, RID®, Phillips'® Milk of Magnesia, Midol®, Alka-Seltzer®, One A Day® vitamins, and Flintstones™ vitamins in the United States, and, globally, Flanax®/Apronax®, Talcid®, Rennie®, Canesten®, Bepanthen®, Bepanthol®, Supradyn®, Redoxon®, Berocca®, Cal-D-Vita/Elevit®, Vital 50 Plus®, and CardioAspirin®.

About the American Red Cross

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization -- not a government agency -- and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org.

* Two dental pain studies to evaluate Bayer Advanced Aspirin 500mg and 325mg tablets demonstrated that Bayer Advanced Aspirin can provide meaningful pain relief twice as fast as previous Bayer Aspirin tablets.

SOURCE Bayer HealthCare

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