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UNICEF Greeting Cards Contest for the 2006 Holiday Season

Kids Enter the Contest "Holiday Happiness"

Two winners will be chosen from thousands of entries and their winning artwork will be reproduced as official UNICEF greeting cards sold nationwide to benefit children around the world.

Children ages 13 and under are eligible to enter the contest, which was scheduled to coincide with the start of National Art Month (March 1st). Entry forms are available online at pier1.com, unicefusa.org, and weeklyreader.com; or by calling Pier 1's Customer Relations Department at 1-800-245-4595. Entry forms will also be available at Pier 1 Kids locations and at Pier 1 Kids.com. All entries must be hand-drawn and received by Pier 1 Imports' Corporate Headquarters by April 11, 2006. The children's artwork will be judged on artistic quality and the creative interpretation of the theme "Holiday Happiness."

The card contest started in 1991 as a way to help raise awareness among U.S. school children about UNICEF's important work for children around the world. In 2004, Weekly Reader, a leader in educational publishing, became a contest sponsor as a way to encourage their 11 million readers - predominantly teachers, parents and children - to participate in the greeting card contest.

Two grand-prize winners will be chosen and their designs will be reprinted as official UNICEF cards available nationwide at all U.S. Pier 1 Imports stores and online at www.pier1.com, beginning September 2006. The grand-prize winners also win a trip to New York for themselves and two family members, where they will visit the United Nations and attend a Broadway play, among other seasonal events.

"The annual greeting card contest is a great way for children to participate in helping their global peers," said Charles J. Lyons, president of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. "The real grand-prize at the end of this contest is that it helps provide for and protect the lives of children around the world."

ABOUT UNICEF

Founded in 1946, UNICEF helps save, protect and improve the lives of children around the world through immunization, education, health care, nutrition, clean water and sanitation. UNICEF is non-partisan and its cooperation is free of discrimination. In everything it does, the most disadvantaged children and the countries in greatest need have priority. For more information, please visit www.unicefusa.org or call 1-800-4UNICEF.