Invest in Kids and Unilever Canada's Partnership Recognized by Imagine Canada

    The Welcome to Parenting Box Program Wins an Honourable Mention

    TORONTO, Feb. 13 /CNW/ - Invest in Kids, a national charity helping
parents support the healthy development of children from birth to age five,
and Unilever Canada have won an honourable mention in the Imagine Canada's
2006 Business and Community Partnership Awards for the Welcome to Parenting
Box program.
    In its tenth year now, this Awards program was created by Imagine Canada
to recognize partnerships between businesses and charitable or nonprofit
organizations that strengthen and support Canadian communities.
    Invest in Kids and the Unilever Canada Foundation launched the Welcome to
Parenting Box program in 2002 to provide new parents, who would otherwise not
have access to similar supports, with resources that help them develop
parenting skills and confidence. Since then, nearly 60,000 boxes have been
distributed nationwide to first-time parents by frontline professionals
working with families with young children. The contents of the Box include
parenting resources that demonstrate and explain the principles of Comfort,
Play & Teach(TM) - Invest in Kids' approach to positive parenting.
    "While our research tells us all parents want help with this most
important new responsibility of becoming a parent, many lack the skills and
confidence to do it well. We wanted to find a way to help the parents of
newborns who did not have access to the supports and resources they needed to
do their best as new parents," says Nancy Birnbaum, President & CEO, Invest in
Kids.
    "The response to the Box has been overwhelmingly positive. The parents
who have received it tell us it was very useful and helped them learn what to
expect as their baby grew," says Birnbaum. "And, the frontline professionals
find having this Box to give 'is great not only for the family, but it makes
the family feel good about (their family support) program'."
    "We are delighted to be recognized by Imagine Canada. The Invest in Kids'
Welcome to Parenting Box program has allowed us to make a difference where it
matters most - at the heart of our communities - with families and their young
children," says John Coyne, Vice President Corporate Affairs, Unilever Canada.
    Invest in Kids and the Unilever Canada Foundation are grateful to all the
social service agencies, health units, local charities and provincial
government ministries who have helped distribute the Welcome to Parenting Box
over the years.

    Invest in Kids is a national charity dedicated to helping parents become
the parents they want and need to be. By translating the science of parenting
and child development into engaging, easy-to-understand, relevant resources
for parents and professionals, Invest in Kids aims to strengthen the parenting
knowledge, skills and confidence of all those who touch the lives of our
youngest children to ensure the healthy social, emotional and intellectual
development of children from birth to age five. For additional information,
visit www.investinkids.ca.

    About Unilever
    Unilever (NYSE: UL, UN), one of the world's largest consumer products
companies, aims to add vitality to life by meeting everyday needs for
nutrition, hygiene and personal care. Each day consumers make 150 million
decisions to purchase Unilever products. Dedicated to serving consumers and
the communities where we live, work and play, Unilever has 230,000 employees
in almost 100 countries and in 2005 had an annual turnover of
EUR 39.7 billion.
    The company has a portfolio of more than 400 leading brands that make
people feel good, look good and get more out of life. Unilever is best known
in Canada by brands such as Becel(R), Lipton(R), Red Rose(R), Slim-Fast(R),
Hellmann's(R), Knorr(R), Breyers(R), Popsicle(R), Bertolli(R), Sunlight(R),
AXE(R), Vaseline(R), Vim(R), Q-Tips(R), Dove(R), Suave(R), and Degree(R).
Unilever employs almost 2,000 people across Canada and generated sales of just
over C$1.6 billion in 2005. For more global information, visit
www.unilever.com or in Canada, visit www.unilever.ca.

    /Note to editors: A downloadable photograph of the Welcome to Parenting
    Box is available at www.investinkids.ca/photogallery/

For further information: Media contact: Invest in Kids, 1-877-583-5437
or [phone]; Rozvita Gabric, ext. 294, Communications Manager,
[e-mail]; Lindsay Robertson, ext. 224, Communications
Coordinator, [e-mail]; OR John Coyne, Vice President
Corporate Affairs, Unilever Canada, [phone], [e-mail]