Red Cross Virtual Auction Goes Live April 22

American Red Cross
Monday, 22 April 2002

"Hot Items" Lead the Way for Nationwide Fund Raiser Hosted on eBay

The American Red Cross nationwide Virtual Auction, sponsored by Capital One, goes live on-line on Monday, April 22, with nearly 1,500 unique and exciting items from 35 participating chapters from all over the country. Hosted on eBay, the two 10-day charity auctions will raise money for disaster relief and other Red Cross humanitarian services.

Hot items in the charity auction include seats to the taping of "Oprah" including airfare; Paris to Normandy Seine River cruise for two; tickets to professional baseball, basketball and hockey games; Alaska Airlines round-trip tickets; a Boeing Company Flight Simulator Ride; various sports and celebrity memorabilia, such as a Shania Twain autographed guitar and a Britney Spears autographed Seventeen magazine.

For the first time, 21 of the charity auction items were solicited and donated by musician Wynonna Judd. Ms. Judd, because of the events of September 11th, continually called upon her local Red Cross chapter to offer assistance.

"I thought long and hard about how I could make a difference," Wynonna said. "I was delightfully surprised at the generosity of my fellow artists who committed to this cause. These are exceptional gifts from artists who opened up their hearts. As amazed as I am by the talents of Madonna, Dolly, Rosie, Garth and Oprah and all of the others who donated, I am forever changed by the size of their hearts."

There are also get-aways to Jamaica, Barbados, Tahiti and Mexico; a week time-share on Kauai; VIP season tickets at AT&T's Summer Nights at the Pier in Seattle; an exquisite ladies 0.9 carat diamond ring; Microsoft Office XP Standard and Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition; restaurant gift certificates; and much more.

Participation is easy! The Red Cross, Capital One and eBay encourage people to take part in this fun and exciting charity auction by simply visiting www.ebay.com/redcross between April 22 – May 9. It's an opportunity to bid on unique and exciting items from all over the country while supporting the nation's official disaster relief organization.

"The Virtual Auction provides a creative way for individuals to go on-line and purchase products and support a good cause at the same time," said J. Logan Seitz, senior vice president, Growth and Integrated Development, American Red Cross. "We would like to thank Capital One for sponsoring the event."

"Supporting the American Red Cross is an important part of Capital One's efforts to assist people in need," said Dorothy Broadman, Director of Corporate Citizenship at Capital One. "This auction offers us another opportunity to make a positive impact as a corporate citizen."

Capital One Financial Corporation is a financial services company that offers customized financial products and services to meet individual consumers' needs. In just seven years, Capital One has become one of the largest credit card issuers with more than 43 million customers--adding 27,000 new customers every day.

eBay has been selected to be the exclusive host for this year's event, to be held April 22 - May 9, 2002. This year's charity auction has doubled from one 10-day auction to two 10-day auctions. Items will be up for bid from April 22-May 2 and additional items will be posted from April 29-May 9.

Last year the Red Cross Virtual Auction raised an astonishing $320,000 with more than 1,500 unique and exciting items sold. The auction logged 1.9 million hits and had more than 212,600 unique visitors from all over the world.

Go to www.ebay.com/redcross between April 22 – May 9, 2002 to participate in the Red Cross Virtual Auction. For more information, contact Colleen Poole at 206-726-3574.

For more than 100 years, the American Red Cross has been dedicated to helping make families and communities safer at home and around the world. A humanitarian service organization with nearly a million volunteers, the American Red Cross annually mobilizes relief to victims of nearly 70,000 disasters nationwide, from residential fires to tornadoes. The Red Cross last year trained nearly 12 million people in lifesaving skills and provided direct health services to 2.5 million people. The American Red Cross assists the relief efforts for international and conflict victims and helps over 8,500 U.S. military families, transmitting 4,000 emergency messages a day.

For more information, or to contact American Red Cross, see their website at: www.redcross.org