NORWALK, Conn., March 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Metro New York area Dunkin' Donuts and their generous guests raised more than $100,000 during the holiday shopping season as part of their participation in the 10th annual St. Jude Thanks and Giving(®) campaign. Funds raised during the campaign help St. Jude Children's Research Hospital(®) continue to lead the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other deadly diseases.

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Dunkin' Donuts guests supported the campaign by donating money to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at multiple New York and Connecticut locations. Guests who made a donation were given a paper icon to display in their local Dunkin' Donuts to recognize their generosity. This is the second year Dunkin' Donuts joined more than 60 of America's leading companies and brands to participate in the St. Jude Thanks and Giving® campaign to support the St. Jude mission of finding cures and saving the lives of children.

Created by Marlo, Terre and Tony Thomas, the St. Jude Thanks and Giving® campaign utilizes a multi-media approach to unite celebrities, media and corporate partners during the busy holiday season in support of the lifesaving research and treatment that takes place at St. Jude. It costs $1.9 million to operate the hospital each day, and unlike other hospitals, more than 75 percent of that funding comes from the public through campaigns such as St. Jude Thanks and Giving®.

"I am so inspired by the way Dunkin' Donuts and their guests have taken the children and families of St. Jude into their hearts," said Marlo Thomas, national outreach director of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. "The money they raise allows St. Jude to continue to find cures and save the lives of children around the world at absolutely no cost to their families. Their passion and unwavering commitment is a blessing to us."

To learn more about St. Jude, please visit www.stjude.org.

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 deadly 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 it 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 Dunkin' Donuts
Founded in 1950, Dunkin' Donuts is America's favorite all-day, everyday stop for coffee and baked goods. Dunkin' Donuts is a market leader in the hot regular/decaf/flavored coffee, iced coffee, donut, bagel and muffin categories. Dunkin' Donuts has earned the No. 1 ranking for customer loyalty in the coffee category by Brand Keys for eight years running. The company has nearly 11,000 restaurants in 33 countries worldwide. Based in Canton, Mass., Dunkin' Donuts is part of the Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DNKN) family of companies. For more information, visit www.DunkinDonuts.com.

Contact:
ALSAC/St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Sarah Newman, 704-724-5394 sarah.newman@stjude.org

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SOURCE Dunkin' Donuts