March 6, 2005
Security times six equals one happy family…
TAGGIES™ BRIGHTEN A FAMILY’S NEW HOME
ON ABC-TV’S ‘EXTREME
MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION’
SPENCER, Mass. (March 6) – From the birth of sextuplets
to Hurricane Ivan tearing through their home to the dramatic efforts
of friends to stall off foreclosure, the Harris family of Birmingham,
Alabama, had seen some mighty extreme circumstances.
But Chris Harris and his wife, Diamond, got the biggest surprise
yet when “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” came knocking.
Within days, the Harris family was ushered into a spectacular new
5,000-square-foot home with plenty of comfortable space for their
brood of seven children – and a supply of cuddly TAGGIES® products
to keep the little ones happy.
“We are thrilled to be included in a project that brings
such joy – not only to the Harris family, but to the entire
viewing audience,” says Julie Dix, who created the first
TAGGIES security blanket and co-founded the company with business
partner Danielle Ayotte.
“This family has a lovely, heartwarming story and it’s
a privilege for all of us at TAGGIES to help,” Ayotte adds. “Honestly,
we’re just so excited about taking part in a family-friendly
program that is so positive and loved by people all over the country.”
The TAGGIES products donated to the Harrises through “Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition” are all about what babies love: the
satiny little tags found on the edges of blankets, toys and other
fabric products. Julie Dix made the first TAGGIE by sewing colorful
ribbon tags around the hem of her baby’s blanket, and soon
her entire playgroup was clamoring for blankets of their own.
When they learned of the plight of the Harris family – whose
six little ones are the first known surviving African American
sextuplets in America, and who came close to losing their home
after the babies arrived – the TAGGIES team decided to donate “as
much comfort as we could,” Ayotte says.
While boxes of TAGGIES made their way to Alabama, the Harris sextuplets,
along with their parents and 7-year-old brother Dewayne, were sent
on a much-needed vacation at Disney World as the “Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition” crew and teams of volunteers pitched
in to build the new Harris home in just one week.
All Taggies products meet or exceed all voluntary standards and
mandatory regulations set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission
and American Society for Testing and Materials for children's blankets
and toys, in addition to meeting Canadian and European standards.
The Taggies product line includes small and large fleece blankets,
plush toys, pillows, baby booties, crib sets and the soft-cover
Scholastic books "My First Taggies Book: Sweet Dreams" and “My
First Taggies Book: I Love You.” The company’s Random
Acts of Kindness program brings Taggies blankets to ill or impoverished
children.
Taggies products are sold at more than 3,000 independent specialty
shops throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Ireland,
and through more than a dozen catalogs, including Red Envelope
and Lillian Vernon. Both Scholastic Taggies Books are sold at Wal-Mart,
Target, Toys R Us, Borders, Barnes & Noble and other mass marketers.
Taggies products may be ordered online at www.taggies.com and by
phone at 1-877-4-TAGGIE.
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” is produced by Endemol
USA, a division of Endemol Holding. David Goldberg is the President
of Endemol USA. The series is executive-produced by Tom Forman.
The show airs Sundays (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET), on the ABC Television
Network.
# # # # #
For more information about TAGGIES, please
contact:
Elizabeth
Waldman Frazier
WALDMANIA! Public Relations
Telephone: (415) 334-2787
waldmania@comcast.net
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