Eight Seattle-Area Hospitals Get Starlight Fun Centers™ Thanks to Papa Murphy’s Participation in CBS EcoMedia’s WellnessAd Program

SEATTLE, Wa., April 17, 2013 /3BL Media/ – Papa Murphy’s has partnered with CBS EcoMedia Inc. and Starlight Children’s Foundation^TM to provide mobile entertainment units to eight Seattle-area hospitals as part of Starlight’s Fun Center™ program. The eight hospitals receiving the new Fun Centers are Overlake Hospital, Valley Medical, Skagit Valley Hospital, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Mary Bridge Children’s Child Life and Radiology, Pope’s Kids Place, Highline Medical Center, and Swedish.

Swedish received its Fun Centers today during a special “Power-On” event, with Fun Center deliveries to the other hospitals in the coming weeks.  Hosting the “Power-On” celebration at Swedish were Amy Stillion, Executive Director, Starlight Children’s Foundation Northwest; Guy Hudson, M.D., Executive Medical Director of Pediatrics and Pediatric Specialties at Swedish; Todd Mulvahill, President, Papa Murphy’s Western Washington Co-Op; and Paul Polizzotto, President and Founder, CBS EcoMedia Inc.

Starlight Fun Centers are mobile entertainment units containing the latest gaming system that roll bedside inhospitals to provide distractive entertainment and therapeutic play for pediatric patients.

“Starlight Children’s Foundation improves the life and health of kids and families from hospital to home through generous donations from partners like Papa Murphy’s and CBS EcoMedia,” said Jacqueline Hart-Ibrahim, Global CEO of Starlight Children’s Foundation. “This gift of Starlight Fun Centers will invest in the emotional health and physical healing of hospitalized children in the Seattle area. Starlight is proud to work with donors and supporters to raise funds and awareness that directly benefit our partner healthcare facilities."

To date, more than 7,000 Fun Centers are being enjoyed by children with chronic illnesses in hospitals across North America.  However, the need is still great and the waiting list to receive a sponsored Fun Center is long.  The generous funding from Papa Murphy’s will enable thousands of Seattle-area kids to have a better hospital experience for many years to come.

“Through our partnership with Starlight Children’s Foundation, we are able to show our customers and the Western Washington community that we aren’t just about trying to sell pizza, we are invested in giving back to our local community,” said Todd Mulvahill, President, Papa Murphy’s Western Washington Co-Op.  “Giving back to children with long term illness in the greater Seattle area makes me and all of the Western Washington franchise owners feel really good.  We are very proud to be partnered with Starlight to make a real difference for hospitalized children in Western Washington.”  

 “Any of us with children know how anxious and stressful hospital time can be for both the kids and their families.  And when a child has a chronic condition that requires long term care and repeated hospital visits that makes it all the tougher,” said Paul Polizzotto, President and Founder of CBS EcoMedia.  “These Starlight Fun Centers that Papa Murphy’s WellnessAd advertising has funded are a key distraction therapy tool used by health care professionals to keep the hospital environment as child-friendly as possible.  Parents and nurses even report a decrease in the need for pain medication when a hospitalized child is using a Starlight Fun Center.  EcoMedia is so grateful for Papa Murphy’s enlightened vision of community service and for their essential role in this public-private partnership, along with our nonprofit partner, Starlight Children’s Foundation.  This is just another great example of the positive social change made possible through EcoMedia’s WellnessAd, EcoAd and EducationAd programs.”

About Papa Murphy’s

Papa Murphy's is the fifth-largest pizza chain in the country and the pioneer and leader of the take 'n' bake pizza segment. Papa Murphy's operates 1,325 franchised and corporate-owned locations in 37 states and Canada. The Vancouver, Wash.-based company offers custom-made pizzas featuring high-quality, fresh toppings generously layered on pizza dough that is made fresh each morning in each store.  By baking Papa Murphy’s pizzas at home, customers get to experience the home-baked aroma of a convenient, delicious meal that the brand is known for. In addition to handmade pizzas, the company offers a growing menu of take 'n' bake items, including Cheesy Bread, Cinnamon Wheels, and chocolate chip cookie dough. Papa Murphy’s was recently voted “#1 Rated Pizza Chain” by surveyors in Zagat Survey’s 2010, 2011 and 2012 Fast Food Survey and is a four-time recipient of Pizza Today’s Chain of the Year award. For more information, visit www.papamurphys.com. Find Papa Murphy’s on Facebook at www.facebook.com/papamurphyspizza.

About Starlight Children’s Foundation
Over the past 30 years, Starlight Children’s Foundation™ has become a leading global charity that partners with experts to improve the life and health of kids and families around the world. Collaborating with innovators in pediatric healthcare, entertainment and technology, Starlight provides a unique blend of family-centered programs and services from hospital to home. Starlight partners with more than 1,750 healthcare facilities and every major pediatric hospital in Australia, Canada, Israel, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, serving millions of children every year. To learn more, visit www.starlight.org, or follow us at facebook.com/StarlightChildrensFoundation and twitter.com/StarlightOnline.

About Swedish

Swedish has grown over the last 103 years to become the largest non-profit health provider in the Greater Seattle area. It is comprised of five hospital campuses (First Hill, Cherry Hill, Ballard, Edmonds and Issaquah); ambulatory care centers in Redmond and Mill Creek; and Swedish Medical Group, a network of more than 100 primary-care and specialty clinics located throughout the Greater Puget Sound area. In addition to general medical and surgical care including robotic-assisted surgery, Swedish is known as a regional referral center, providing specialized treatment in areas such as cardiovascular care, cancer care, neuroscience, orthopedics, high-risk obstetrics, pediatric specialties, organ transplantation and clinical research. For more information, visit www.swedish.org, www.swedishcares.org, www.facebook.com/swedishmedicalcenter, or www.twitter.com/swedish. 

About CBS EcoMedia Inc.

At EcoMedia, we're propelled by the desire to create positive social change; that's been our mission since we founded the company in 2002.  In 2008, after successfully partnering with CBS on a wide range of environmental projects, EcoMedia became the newest addition to the CBS Corporation portfolio, exponentially scaling our reach across television, radio, interactive, publishing and outdoor media. 

Through our patent-pending EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd programs, an innovative twist on traditional advertising, advertisers are able to support much-needed local projects which in turn creates jobs, saves taxpayer money and improves the quality of life in communities nationwide.  In the process, we’re fundamentally altering the advertising landscape, elevating the ordinary, traditional commercial – and media, in general – into a catalyst for tangible, quantifiable social change.  Please visit ecomedia.cbs.com to learn more. 

By participating in EcoMedia’s EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd advertising programs, EcoMedia’s advertisers agree to provide funding for projects we believe will have a beneficial effect upon the environment, health and/or education within local communities.  EcoMedia’s advertising programs are not certification programs nor are the EcoAd, WellnessAd or EducationAd logos seals of approval. EcoMedia does not in any way certify, endorse or make any representations about EcoMedia program advertisers, their products or services.