Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness Jackman to Host Worldwide Orphans Foundation's 2nd Annual Benefit Gala

Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness Jackman to Host Worldwide Orphans Foundation's 2nd Annual Benefit Gala

Special Guest, Mary-Louise Parker, Will Address Attendees

NEW YORK, June 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Hugh Jackman, Tony-Award winning actor (The Boy from Oz) and star of the hit movie, X-Men: The Last Stand, and his wife, actress Deborra-Lee Furness Jackman, will emcee the Worldwide Orphans Foundation (WWO) Second Annual Benefit Gala, Monday, October 16, 2006, 6:00 pm, Cipriani, 55 Wall Street, New York City. The celebrity couple promises an emotionally-charged evening filled with information and entertainment, according to Dr. Jane Aronson, WWO founder and executive medical director.

WWO serves orphaned children worldwide through the direct delivery of humanitarian programs designed to solve specific medical, developmental, emotional and psycho-social needs.

Last year, WWO held its First Annual Benefit Gala and raised $800,000 thanks to corporate, individual and celebrity support, including a moving address by Special Guest, Angelina Jolie, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador.

This year, Tony-Award winning actress Mary-Louise Parker (Proof) will be WWO's Special Guest, and Ms. Parker intends to share her thoughts about WWO with Gala attendees.

WWO's 2006 Honorary Gala Committee is chaired by James Haven. Committee members include Andre Braugher, Ann Hampton Callaway, Christine Ebersole, Cindy Hsu, Liya Kebede, Kathleen Marshall, Donna Murphy, Mary-Louise Parker, Alexandra Postman, Steve Schirripa, and Bill Weir.

Kathleen Marshall, Tony-Award winning choreographer (The Pajama Game, Wonderful Town), will choreograph and direct the performances for the evening.

Andre Braugher, star of TV's Homicide, will narrate a short film about WWO programs.

The mission of Worldwide Orphans Foundation is to identify the immediate and long-term medical, developmental, social and emotional needs of children living in orphanages and to provide direct services to improve their quality of life. Founded in 1997 by renowned adoption medicine specialist, Dr. Jane Aronson, WWO has established humanitarian programs in Ethiopia, Viet Nam, Bulgaria, Serbia/Montenegro, Azerbaijan, and China. For more information, please visit http://www.wwo.org/ .

Source: Worldwide Orphans Foundation

CONTACT: Dr. Jane Aronson, Founder and Executive Medical Director, or
Kashif Iqbal, Executive Director, both of Worldwide Orphans Foundation,
+1-212-277-8017; or Meg Bode, PR Contact for Worldwide Orphans Foundation,
+1-516-869-6610

Web site: http://www.wwo.org/

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