Valassis Leaders Build Community Park in Bessemer, Alabama

LIVONIA, Mich., Jan. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Valassis (NYSE: VCI), one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies, announced today its role in building a community park in partnership with the Red Mountain Heights Community League Inc. in Bessemer, Ala., outside Birmingham.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110131/DE39248 )

Valassis introduced a community service project as part of a semiannual meeting of its leadership team. The company not only committed $25,000 to the project but also a time commitment from about 80 members of its leadership team. They completed the project at the end of January while in nearby Birmingham for their business meeting. The Valassis team took a hands-on approach, installing park equipment, spreading gravel and readying the park for area youngsters. The park includes swings, a wave slide, spring riders, a walking track and benches. With the charge to demonstrate its philosophy of giving back, the location of the January 2011 business meeting was determined by the project itself. The overriding consideration for the project was that it would directly help children.

"Too often, we take for granted the simple things like being able to walk or bike to a neighborhood park," said Alan F. Schultz Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer at Valassis. "By helping families one by one, we are honoring our continued commitment to the American family. It all started over 25 years ago when we leveraged the power of our products to help recover missing children, and since that time, our desire to help children has grown."

This park project continues the company's focus on helping children in need. Its Have You Seen Me?® program has been featuring the names and faces of missing children across its RedPlum™ portfolio and reuniting missing children with their families for over 25 years. This program, in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the U.S. Postal Service, builds on the company's desire to help the American family by empowering them to aid in the recovery of missing children as well as delivering savings to over 100 million households each week in the mail, the newspaper, in-store and online.

The quest to build this much needed neighborhood park began in 2007 when the Red Mountain Heights Community League Inc. of dedicated individuals focused on providing area children with a safe environment. Weaver Land Company donated the land, but the project was at a standstill due to a lack of funding despite local efforts to raise the necessary money. That changed when Valassis partnered with the grass-roots organization to complete the project. The park was dedicated at a ceremony on Jan. 26.

"While talking with my wife one day, we noticed our kids in the neighborhood just walking up and down the streets with no place to go," said Alfred Woods, Vice President, Red Mountain Heights Community League, Inc. "We also noticed that the only place for them to ride their bikes was on the dangerous streets of the community.  I said, 'we have to do something to give our kids a place to play in the neighborhood.' We had become discouraged to the point where we had almost given up," Woods continued. "Then, one day, we received a call from Valassis and learned about their commitment to the welfare of children and how our project might be something their company would consider funding.  We couldn't believe it.  Since that time, the wheels have been in motion and our dream of a park for our children is a reality because of Valassis."

Additionally, the park has been adopted by the Renaissance Birmingham Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa, where the Valassis business meeting was held.

Please note: Photos are available for the media upon request.

About Valassis

Valassis is one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies, offering unparalleled reach and scale to more than 15,000 advertisers. Its RedPlum™ media portfolio delivers value on a weekly basis to over 100 million shoppers across a multi-media platform – in-home, in-store and in-motion. Through its digital offerings, including redplum.com and save.com, consumers can find compelling national and local deals. Headquartered in Livonia, Michigan with approximately 7,000 associates in 28 states and eight countries, Valassis is widely recognized for its associate and corporate citizenship programs, including its America's Looking for Its Missing Children® program. Valassis companies include Valassis Direct Mail, Inc., Valassis Canada, Promotion Watch, Valassis Relationship Marketing Systems, LLC and NCH Marketing Services, Inc.  For more information, visit http://www.valassis.com, http://www.redplum.com and http://www.save.com. To learn about advertising opportunities with RedPlum, please call 1-800-437-0479.

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This document contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following: price competition from our existing competitors; new competitors in any of our businesses; a shift in client preference for different promotional materials, strategies or coupon delivery methods, including, without limitation, as a result of declines in newspaper circulation; an unforeseen increase in paper or postal costs; changes which affect the businesses of our clients and lead to reduced sales promotion spending, including, without limitation, a decrease of marketing budgets which are generally discretionary in nature and easier to reduce in the short-term than other expenses; our substantial indebtedness, and ability to refinance such indebtedness, if necessary, and our ability to incur additional indebtedness, may affect our financial health; the financial condition, including bankruptcies, of our clients, suppliers, senior secured credit facility lenders or other counterparties; our ability to comply with or obtain modifications or waivers of the financial covenants contained in our debt documents; certain covenants in our debt documents could adversely restrict our financial and operating flexibility; ongoing disruptions in the credit markets that make it difficult for companies to secure financing; fluctuations in the amount, timing, pages, weight and kinds of advertising pieces from period to period, due to a change in our clients' promotional needs, inventories and other factors; our failure to attract and retain qualified personnel may affect our business and results of operations; a rise in interest rates could increase our borrowing costs; we may be required to recognize additional impairment charges against goodwill and intangible assets in the future; possible governmental regulation or litigation affecting aspects of our business; the credit and liquidity crisis in the financial markets could continue to affect our results of operations and financial condition; uncertainty in the application and interpretation of applicable state sales tax laws may expose us to additional sales tax liability; and general economic conditions, whether nationally, internationally, or in the market areas in which we conduct our business, including the adverse impact of the ongoing economic downturn on the marketing expenditures and activities of our clients and prospective clients as well as our vendors, with whom we rely on to provide us with quality materials at the right prices and in a timely manner. These and other risks and uncertainties related to our business are described in greater detail in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including our reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q and the foregoing information should be read in conjunction with these filings.  We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Valassis

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