NEW YORK, NY ---



EIF and Saks Fifth Avenue announced today that actress Charlize Theron, has agreed to become the model for the 2004 KEY TO THE CURE initiative. KEY TO THE CURE is a women's cancer initiative founded in partnership with the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) and its Women's Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

"We all want to find better ways to detect cancer early," says Ms. Theron. "I'm honored to join the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Women's Cancer Research Fund and Saks Fifth Avenue to help bring more attention to this cause and the importance of the cutting-edge scientific work being funded through KEY TO THE CURE."

Money raised through Saks Fifth Avenue's KEY TO THE CURE will benefit more than 60 charitable programs dedicated to finding new treatments and a cure fore women's cancers nationwide, including EIF's Women's Cancer Research Foundation Fund.

Fred Wilson Chairman & CEO, Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises said, "Everyone here at Saks Fifth Avenue is eager to embark on our sixth year of continued dedication in finding a cure for all women's cancers. In the past five years, Saks has raised over $13 million dollars, which has been donated to national and local women's cancer charities across the country. We are proud and enormously grateful to have Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron as the ambassador of this year's campaign. With the help of designer Marc Jacobs and our partners Mercedes Benz-USA, Entertainment Industry Foundation's Women's Cancer Research Fund and Hanes this year's shopping weekend contributions will fund cancer research that will innovate, change medical history, revolutionize testing and diagnostic procedures.

Saks Fifth Avenue's shopping weekend will take place October 14 - 17 at all of its stores nationwide during which a percentage of sales will be made to local and national breast and women's reproductive cancer research centers. In support of this program, Ms. Theron will appear in a national public service announcement (PSA) wearing the initiative's limited edition Hanes t-shirt designed by Marc Jacobs, exclusively to benefit Saks Fifth Avenue's KEY TO THE CURE. The PSA will appear in major fashion and lifestyle magazines in October.

Partnering with Saks Fifth Avenue and the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Women's Cancer Research Fund in KEY TO THE CURE is Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA). MBUSA donated $1 million last year through a special vehicle offering at select Mercedes-Benz dealerships across the country. The company will do the same this year with a special edition of its all-new SLK350 roadster which will go on sale in September.

"This is a disease that touches everyone -- men, women and children - in some way, directly or through someone they know," said Michelle Cervantez, vice president, marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA. "It is our hope that -- by using this special-edition fleet of one of our most sought-after models, the SLK, to help benefit KEY TO THE CURE -- we can help bring treatment options and prevention one step closer."

Saks Fifth Avenue's KEY TO THE CURE is an expansion of its four-year program, which has already raised significant funds for breast cancer research and treatment to include all reproductive cancers. In order to broaden its scope, Saks has entered into this relationship with the Entertainment Industry Foundation, Hollywood's philanthropic arm.

Saks Fifth Avenue initiated its shopping weekend in 1999. Since then, the company has donated over $13 million to organizations throughout the United States. Organizations benefiting from these funds include New York's Mt. Sinai; L