Nashville, TN – Dec. 3, 2012 – GRAMMY winning trio Lady Antebellum announced today their new charitable initiative called LadyAID™, a philanthropic effort created to bring awareness to and generate support for children in need locally, nationally and globally.

The multi-level organization will reach children across the state of Tennessee through grants to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.  On a national level, Lady Aid is supporting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and on a global level, myLIFEspeaks and The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The LadyAID™ Fund is a component fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, who will help the band with the facilitation of their charity.

“The opportunity to play music on stages all around the world has given us so much happiness,” said Lady A’s Dave Haywood. “By establishing LadyAID™, we’re going to be able to put a new focus on accomplishing an off-stage goal we have as a band, which is to help children in need.”

“There are children all over the world who are suffering because they don’t have the resources to get the help they need,” added Hillary Scott. “My heart has specifically been lead to the children of Haiti.  By partnering with organizations like UNHCR and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, we’ve already seen children be given access to medical care they wouldn’t otherwise have in their country.  It’s so inspiring, and anything we can do to help that cause, we’re going to do.”

“We’ve witnessed firsthand what these organizations are doing to help kids and their families. I’ve been personally touched by the children’s hospital visits we’ve made around the US over the last few years,” noted Charles Kelley. “We hope that with the help of our fans, we can all combine our energy and resources to help provide some relief to these families.”

LadyAID™ will be funded by donations and fundraising efforts including the trio’s inaugural PING PONG & SONGS event.  Inspired by a combination of the band’s favorite backstage hobby and their love of songwriting, the event will be held in early 2013.

Lady Antebellum recently wrapped their headlining tour that was awarded Billboard’s “Breakthrough Award” and traveled across the US, Canada, Europe and Australia, where the GRAMMY winning trio was welcomed by over one million fans in 11 countries on three continents. Lady A sold out shows in top markets including Los Angeles, Chicago, two nights in New York City, Toronto, London, three nights at Sydney’s Opera House and even had a chance to open a sold out show at London’s Hard Rock Calling for one of their idols Bruce Springsteen. The group’s current album OWN THE NIGHT debuted at the No. one position on Billboard’s Top 200 and has spawned two No. one hits “We Owned The Night” and “Just A Kiss.” The trio has sold over 11 million albums across the globe, scored seven GRAMMY Awards and tallied six No. one hits.

On Monday night (December 3rd) in celebration of their Christmas album ON THIS WINTER’S NIGHT, the trio will create an unforgettable night of holiday music and their biggest hits at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville. The event is being filmed for a television special by the same name that will air on GAC this Wednesday (December 5th) at 8pm ET and in more than 45 countries around the world between now and the end of the year.

About Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital At Vanderbilt:

The Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt is nationally recognized as a leading provider of pediatric health care services. Children’s Hospital is ranked as one of the top children’s hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report magazine in the specialty areas of Urology, Neonatology, Pulmonology, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Cancer, Cardiology and Heart Surgery, Gastroenterology, Nephrology, Neurology and Neurosurgery and Orthopaedics. Children’s is also ranked 15th in the nation by Parents magazine.  A 271–bed facility, Children’s Hospital provides the region’s highest level of pediatric care and is also a top-level teaching and research facility.

About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital:

Since opening 50 years ago, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has changed the way the world treats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. No family ever pays St. Jude for the care their child receives and, for every child treated here, thousands more have been saved worldwide through St. Jude discoveries. The hospital has played a pivotal role in pushing U.S. pediatric cancer survival rates from 20 to 80 percent overall, and is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted to children. It is also a leader in the research and treatment of blood disorders and infectious diseases in children. St. Jude was founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, who believed that no child should die in the dawn of life.

About Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals:

Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® raises funds for 170 nonprofit children’s hospitals across North America, which, in turn, use the money where it’s needed the most. When a donation is given it stays in the community, helping local kids. Since 1983, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has raised more than $4 billion, most of it $1 at a time. These donations support research and training, purchase equipment and pay for uncompensated care, all in support of our mission to save and improve the lives of as many children as possible.

About The UN Refugee Agency – UNHCR :

The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, is on the front lines of the world’s most pressing humanitarian crises.  UNHCR was established on December 14, 1950, by the United Nations General Assembly. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees and other people displaced by war, conflict and persecution. Today, UNHCR helps nearly 34 million people, of which 80% are women and children. UNHCR strives to ensure that everyone can exercise their basic human right to seek asylum, find safe refuge in another country, and eventually a permanent home. UNHCR also has a mandate to help stateless people, or people who are not recognized as a citizen of any country.  Over the past six decades, the agency has helped millions of people restart their lives and has won two Nobel Peace Prizes. UNHCR works to provide primary education and job skills to youth to help keep them safe from forced recruitment, sexual exploitation and smuggling. UNHCR aims to provide a better future for the world’s most vulnerable.

About myLIFEspeaks:

myLIFEspeaks exists to speak up for those around the world who can’t speak for themselves by bringing LIFE-giving aid to orphans with and without special needs and showing all people around the globe their worth.  This happens by allowing orphans with special needs and typical orphans the opportunity to grow up together in the same family environment–what we call our Campus Family.  When myLIFEspeaks began, our hopes and dreams were to be able to make a difference in one village in Haiti–a village called, Neply.  As our mission statement says, we exist to SPEAK UP for those who can’t SPEAK for themselves.  This phrase has quickly become more than a mission statement…it is our way of LIFE.  Daily in Neply we work to EMPOWER FAMILIES to LIVE LIFE together.  We are active in the community providing Pregnant Mother Care, an Infant Feeding Program, a Feeding Program for school-age children, and the cornerstone of what we do–our Mentor Program.  We believe that Neply will change through education and HOPE…and our commitment is to be there to see this change happen. 

About The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee:

The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee oversees more than 850 charitable funds, one of which is the LadyAid™ Fund, providing customized philanthropic solutions with flexibility for donors, nonprofit organizations and the community. In the past 21 years, The Community Foundation has distributed more than $600 million to community programs and institutions. 

For more information on LadyAID, visit www.LadyAID.org or www.ladyantebellum.com.

AUDIO: Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley says the one aspect the band always agreed on was to help children in need, which is the focus of their new Lady Aid initiative.

Lady A (Lady Aid) 1 OC: …into one. :24
“The one thing we always agreed on was helping kids. There’s just so much need out there, and I think any kid in need hits home to all of us and is something we can all agree is something that doesn’t need to happen. So, we try to bring as much help to kids globally and internationally an nationally here and locally, and try to collect all of these efforts into one.”

Lady A (Lady Aid) 2 OC: …to do it. :31
“There’s a lot of things we love to give to, but this was kind of the one umbrella organization that we can start as a band and this will be the way we could do a fundraiser, raise funds and then donate to these specific charities. After visiting the Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, it’s really cool to be able to have an organization we can give directly to them, directly to My Life Speaks, the U.N. and Children’s Miracle Network. So, for us, this is a way that we can do it all in one place and have one kind of joint effort to do it.”