Casual Gamers Join Forces With Top Charities to Compete for IWON.com Cash Prizes

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Feb 19, 2009 — Americans' renewed sense of hope and desire for change appear to have extended all the way to online solitaire. Thousands of casual gamers logged on to IWON.com last month to play games on behalf of their favorite charity or community organization. At stake, more than $25,000 in January cash prizes as part of an IWON Team Challenge that by month's end will have awarded over $160,000 in charitable donations in total.

"In harsh economic times, corporations and individual donors have no choice but to tighten their financial belts, and as a result charities are often the first to suffer," says Timothy Allen, vice president and general manager of IWON.com, part of Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc. "Yet, thousands of caring individuals who are struggling to support their favorite causes by traditional means are now coming to IWON to participate in our Team Challenge. It's a chance for them to compete and play games in the hopes of raising much-needed cash for their charity or community group."

Topping January's national charity Team Challenge, The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital received $10,000 through the efforts of a loyal IWON team of online game players. One of the world's premier medical centers, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is dedicated to finding cures for children with catastrophic diseases through research and treatment.

On the member-created team charity side, the Bell Ringers group opted to award their $10,000 winnings to The Salvation Army, which funds education, the relief of poverty, and other charitable objectives beneficial to society or the community of mankind as a whole.

Taking January's second and third place prize awards in the national team category were Best Friends Animal Society, the country's largest sanctuary for abused and abandoned animals and the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. Among IWON member-created groups, the team in support of Wounded Warriors took second place and a $2,000 prize, while the third place Heavenly Angels won $1,000.