Feb. 17, 2009

QUEENS, N.Y. - Sixty minutes before Thursday's tip-off between St. John's and No. 9/9 Duke in the 2009 Aéropostale Classic, the coaches of both college basketball programs will team up for an outstanding cause. STJ head man Norm Roberts and Blue Devil mentor Mike Krzyzewski will meet at center court to show their support for Aéropostale's "Teens for Jeans" program, an initiative the NYC-based teen retailer Aéropostale and teen not-for-profit DoSomething.org began to raise awareness on the growing number of homeless teens in North America by empowering teens nationwide to collect jeans for homeless youth.

Last year, the campaign collected over 125,000 pairs of jeans in just two weeks. This year's campaign has been running for four weeks, from January 26 through February 22, 2009.

Teen favorite Chace Crawford of "Gossip Girl" stars in the PSA campaign which encourages teens to take action in their communities. Joining Crawford to lend their help in raising awareness are David Archuleta, Eva Amurri, Shailene Woodley and many others.

"We're excited to be partnering with DoSomething.org on Teens for Jeans again," says Scott Birnbaum, Senior Vice President, Marketing at Aéropostale. "As a teenage brand, teen homelessness is an issue that's very near to us and by mobilizing our customer base we can really make a difference."

From Monday, January 26 until Sunday, February 22, all are encouraged to bring in any brand of their gently worn jeans to any Aéropostale store in the U.S. and Canada. Aéropostale and DoSomething.org will make sure the jeans are donated to one of the 500 local youth shelters that have been selected as partners. As an extra incentive for those who donate, Aéropostale will give an additional 25 percent off a new pair of jeans, though no purchase is necessary.

In addition to getting customers involved in stores, Aéropostale and DoSomething.org are encouraging teenagers in their local high schools and colleges to coordinate Teens for Jeans school drives. To be a `Teens for Jeans' school ambassador and start their own drive they can sign up at TeensforJeans.com and receive a special Teens for Jeans action kit to help them get started. Over 1,000 teens have registered to be ambassadors.

"Aéropostale is committed to causes that are relevant to our customer. We are happy to be joined by so many of today's stars in getting as many people involved in the cause and help bring light to this serious epidemic" says Birnbaum. To kick off the initiative, Aéropostale will be donating 10,000 pairs of new jeans.

To learn how to get involved or for more information about teen homelessness and what you can do, visit teensforjeans.com.