Kellie Pickler and Athena® Bottled Water Present $35,000 to the American Cancer Society to Help End Breast Cancer

ATLANTA, October 26, 2012 /3BL Media/ - Country singer Kellie Pickler and Athena bottled water recently presented a check for $35,000 to the American Cancer Society at a PinkTober event hosted by  the Hard Rock Café, Nashville, Tennessee. The funds, dedicated in honor of Summer Miller Holt, Pickler’s life-long close friend whom she calls her sister, will be used to help end breast cancer through Society research, programs and services. 

Last month, Pickler surprised many fans by buzz cutting her hair to support Holt, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Diagnosed at age 35, Holt chose to cut off her hair before starting treatment for breast cancer. The two ‘bald beauties’ asked Athena bottled water to assist in raising awareness about breast cancer to younger women. Athena offered to contribute $35,000 to the organization of Holt’s choice, and she chose the American Cancer Society.

“On behalf of Summer and everyone battling breast cancer, we are pleased to support the American Cancer Society’s efforts to end breast cancer forever.” said Dillon Schickli, chief executive officer of DS Waters of America. “Every bottle of Athena bottled water makes a difference in this fight, not just in October, but every day of the year.”

Athena recently increased its total contribution to support the fight against breast cancer. A minimum of $2 million will go to breast cancer awareness, care, education and research by 2014. As a National Partners Program member of the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer® initiative, the largest network of breast cancer awareness events in the nation, Athena is providing bottled water to walkers and supporters at more than 30 Making Strides events this October.  The cities include Atlanta; Orange County, CA; Sacramento; Orlando; Chicago; New Orleans; Charlotte, NC; Northwest Arkansas; Nashville; and Bellevue, WA. 

For more information, please visit athenawater.com or facebook.com/athenawater. Athena is a brand of bottled water owned by DS Waters of America, Inc.

About DS Waters:

DS Waters of America, Inc. (DS Waters) delivers bottled water, brewed coffee, brewed tea and beverage-related equipment, plus water filtration systems to homes and offices across the U.S.  Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company serves over one million home, office, restaurants, food service organizations, convenience stores, and retail locations.  Several of our drinking water brands have been satisfying consumers for well over 100 years.  DS Waters bottled water products are sold under the brand names Alhambra®, Athena®, Belmont Springs®, Crystal Springs®, Deep Rock®, Hinckley Springs®, Kentwood Springs®, Mount Olympus®, Nursery® Water, Sierra Springs®, and Sparkletts®.  DS Waters offers brewed coffee and tea beverages under the Standard Coffee®, Javarama®, and Roast2Coast® brands.  DS Waters provides water filtration systems under the brands StanGuard Quality Water Assurance™ and MyUtapia®, as well as equipment and services under the Relyant Coffee Equipment Services™ brand.  Visit water.com, athenawater.com; nurserywater.com, standardcoffee.com, coffeeservice.com, dailyperk.com, brewerservice.com, officewater.com,  and myutapia.com, for more information.

About the American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.4 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.