Pitney Bowes Teams Up With Influential Personalities for Worldwide 'Pushing the Envelope' Literacy Campaign

STAMFORD, Conn., Sept. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pitney Bowes Inc. , the leading provider of integrated mail and document management solutions, has enlisted actors, musicians, athletes, writers, illustrators and politicians to design and autograph envelopes as part of its program to support literacy during World Literacy Month in September.

The "Pitney Bowes Pushing the Envelope to Support Literacy" program is a global initiative to raise awareness of and funding for select literacy charities in the U.S., Canada and Europe through the charity auction of one- of-a-kind celebrity-designed envelopes. In the U.S., the envelopes will be placed up for bidding on eBay from September 19th through the 29th (http://www.ebay.com/pitneybowesread), with 100% of all proceeds divided between the National Center for Family Literacy and Reading is Fundamental. Canada's charity auction will also run from September 19th through the 29th with proceeds benefiting the ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation. In Britain, Germany and France, the listings will begin on October 3rd and will run till the 13th, with all proceeds benefiting the National Literacy Trust.

"In fulfilling the company's brand promise, 'Engineering the flow of communication,' Pitney Bowes embraces literacy as our philanthropy program and anticipates another successful year for 'Pushing the Envelope'," stated Bruce P. Nolop, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Pitney Bowes. "By focusing our giving programs on literacy and education, we hope to help people achieve a higher quality of life and gain the tools for success in the workplace."

Among the influential personalities who have contributed their original envelopes are world-renowned business man and creator of The Apprentice Donald Trump, Oscar-winning actors Charlize Theron and Benicio Del Toro, U.S. Senators Joseph Lieberman and John McCain as well as professional athletes Chad Pennington of the NY Jets and Jeff Gordon, Nascar Driver.

To date, contributors to the U.S. eBay charity auction include: * Regis Philbin: Legendary talk show host * Joe Torre: Manager, NY Yankees * Jamie Lee Curtis: Author, Actress, Halloween, Trading Places * Jeff Gordon: Nascar Driver, #24 * Chad Pennington: Quarterback, NY Jets * Donald Trump: Businessman, The Apprentice * Michael Clarke Duncan: Actor, The Green Mile * Mary Higgins Clark: Author * Jennifer Love Hewitt: Actress, Ghost Whisperer * Charlize Theron: Oscar-winning Actress, Monster * Benicio del Toro: Academy Award-winning actor, Traffic * Al Roker: Weatherman, NBC's Today Show * Ryan Seacrest: Host American Idol * Donald Faison: Actor, Scrubs * Christine and Wally Amos: Inventor, Famous Amos cookies * Linda Armstrong: Author, mother of seven-time Tour de France champion * Rene Syler: Co-Anchor, CBS's The Early Show * Andrea Bowen, actress, Desperate Housewives * Bonnie Blair: Five-time Olympic Gold-medalist in Speedskating * Alexis Bledel: Actress, Gilmore Girls * Jack Ford: Correspondent, Court TV * Alan Cumming: Actor, Cabaret * David Broder: Political Columnist Washington Post * Kurt Busch: NASCAR champion, #97 * Brandi Chastain: Professional soccer player * Florence Henderson: Actress, Singer, The Brady Bunch * Peter Laird: Illustrator, Creator Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles * Joseph Lieberman: Connecticut Senator * Constance Marie: Actress, The George Lopez Show * John McCain: Arizona Senator * Joey McIntyre: Actor/Singer, Tony and Tina's Wedding, New Kids on the Block * Dave Price: Weatherman, CBS's The Early Show * Summer Sanders: Olympic gold-medalist, co-host NBA Inside Stuff * Ian Ziering: Actor, Beverly Hills 90210 * Tony Hawk: Professional Skateboarder * Bill Walton: NBA Hall-of-Famer * Carmen Electra: Actress/Model * Cheryl Hines: Actress, Curb Your Enthusiasm * Danny DeVito: Actor, Be Cool * Ethan Zohn: Survivor Winner * Jenna Morosca: Survivor Winner * Kelly Ripa: Co-host, Live with Regis and Kelly * Kristin Chenowith: Actress, West Wing * Nancy O'Dell: Host, Access Hollywood * Rhea Pearlman: Actress, Cheers * Rob Morrow: Actor, Numb3rs * Sean Astin: Actor, Lord of the Rings * Sidney Sheldon: Author * Felicity Huffman: Actress, Desperate Housewives * Jason Alexander: Actor, Seinfeld * Angus Jones: Actor, Two and a Half Men * Bill Weir: Co-Anchor, Weekend Edition of Good Morning America * Carla Gugino: Actress, Karen Sisco * CCH Pounder: Actor, The Shield * Penn & Teller: Magicians and Comedians * Sharon Stone: Actress, Broken Flowers * Eva Longario: Actress, Desperate Housewives

For a list of participants from Europe, visit http://www.pushingtheenvelope.info/. To view the participants for Canada's charity auction, visit http://www.ebay.ca/ or click on the Canadian flag featured on the U.S. site.

As part of the program in the U.S., actress Cheryl Hines, best known for her leading role on the HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm, will serve as spokesperson. A mother of one, Hines is deeply committed to the fight against illiteracy.

About Pitney Bowes Inc.

Pitney Bowes is the world's leading provider of integrated mail and document management systems, services and solutions. The $5.3 billion company helps organizations of all sizes efficiently and effectively manage their mission-critical mail and document flow in physical, digital and hybrid formats. Its solutions range from addressing software and metering systems to print stream management, electronic bill presentment and presort mail services. The company's 80-plus years of technological leadership have produced many major innovations in the mailing industry, and it is consistently on the Intellectual Property Owners Association's list of top U.S. patent holders. With approximately 35,000 employees worldwide, Pitney Bowes serves more than 2 million businesses through direct and dealer operations. More information about the company can be found at http://www.pb.com/.

About The National Center for Family Literacy

The mission of the National Center for Family Literacy is to create educational and economic opportunity for the most at-risk children and parents. NCFL's services include professional development for practitioners who work in children's education, adult education, English as a Second Language, and related literacy fields. Please visit http://www.famlit.org/ for more information.

About Reading Is Fundamental

Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF), founded in 1966, motivates children to read by working with them, their parents, and community members to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life. RIF's highest priority is reaching underserved children from birth to age 8. Through a national, grassroots network of community volunteers at 21,000 program sites, RIF provides 5 million children with 17 million new, free books and literacy resources each year. For more information and to access reading resources, visit RIF's website at http://www.rif.org/.

About Kompolt

Kompolt was retained to manage the listing. Kompolt is the highly regarded "go-to" online auction agency for creating successful, high value, and high profile promotional and charity auctions for top brand companies and nonprofits. For more information, go to http://www.kompolt.com/.

Contact: Melissa Woodbury, Melissa@alantaylor.com, or Casey Cotton, both of Alan Taylor Communications, 212-714-1280.