World's Leading Brand of Vitamin, Mineral and Dietary Supplements Teams Up with Brazilian Soccer Star in an Effort to Raise Money and Awareness for GRAACC Children's Hospital

São Paulo, BRA (July 8, 2008) – International soccer icon Ronaldinho hosted the first ever “Nutrilite Celebrity Football Friendly” charity soccer match in São Paulo today at the ‘A Hebraica’ Sports Club.

The star studded event raised R$50,000 for GRAACC, a hospital in São Paulo that strives to ensure that children with cancer have the best access to treatment and a cure with state-of-the-art scientific technology, along with providing patients with quality of life.

“It was too good to pass up,” said two-time FIFA Player of the Year, Ronaldinho.  “Helping children in my country is something I’ve always believed in and today we got some help from my friends too.”

Joining Ronaldinho in front of a standing-room-only crowd were some of the top names from sport, entertainment, music and media including André Vasco, Brito Junior, Caco Ricci, Cássio Reis, Daniele Winits, Diego Alemão, Eduardo Guedes, Eri Johnson, Fábio Assunção, Felipe Solari, Guilherme Arruda, Henri Castelli, Jorge Sá, Leo Maia, Marco Antônio Gimenez, Marco Bianchi, Marcos Pasquim, Nasi, Paulo Bonfá, Renata Fan, Sabrina Sato, Sebá, Sergio Abreu and Thiago Rodrigues.

The event marked Ronaldinho’s first appearance in Latin America with new endorser Amway Corporation and its Nutrilite brand.  Nutrilite is the world’s leading brand of vitamin, mineral and dietary supplements with one of its largest certified organic farms operating in Ubajara, Brazil.

In recent months, Ronaldinho was named “Global Ambassador” for Amway’s One-by-One Campaign for Children, a philanthropic program which has impacted more than 5.5 million children in need and has shared more than R$83,500,000 around the world along with 839,000 volunteer hours from Amway employees and business owners.

“Amway Brazil has had a long-standing relationship with GRAACC and we thought this would be the perfect way to kick off our new relationship with Ronaldinho while he was back home,” said Amway do Brasil Country Manager André Raduan.  “We also have many new initiatives planned across Latin America this year, especially in Brazil, and we felt that this would be a prelude of things to come as we transform our business.”

About Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho - who has been awarded the FIFA World Player of the Year award twice (2004, 2005), as well as the European Footballer of the Year award (2005) and the FIFPro World Player of the Year award twice (2005, 2006) - is the latest addition to the elite Team NutriliteTM roster which currently includes sprinter Asafa Powell, hurdler Liu Xiang and sprinter Sanya Richards. 

About Amway Brazil

Amway Brazil is based in São Paulo and offers products in nutrition and health, cosmetics, personal care and home care.  In 2007, Amway Brazil experienced growth of approximately 30% and won the “Great Place to Work” award from the Great Place to Work Institute through their organic Nutrilite farm in Ubajara, Brazil.

About Nutrilite

Nutrilite is the world’s leading brand of vitamin, mineral and dietary supplements (based on 2006 sales) and posted sales of $3.1B USD over the last 12 months. The company is so committed to total quality control of its plant concentrates from seed to tablet, it is the only global vitamin and mineral brand to grow, harvest, and process plants on its own certified organic farms, located in California, Washington, Mexico, and Brazil.

About GRAACC

GRAACC’s mission is to ensure that children and teenagers with cancer have the best access to treatment and a cure with state-of-the-art scientific technology, along with providing them with quality of life.   Founded in 1990, GRAAC built a hospital dedicated exclusively to childhood cancer and continues to grow due to the dedication of its professionals, volunteers and partners.  Its Pediatric Oncology Institute offers free treatment to children and teenagers from all over Brazil.  GRAAC can be compared to the best hospitals in the world, and its patients have access to a medical team of leading specialists, the most modern technology and an excellent infrastructure.