FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 13, 2007
John C. Senall, 716-845-1038 (cell 361-9124), RPCI
Jim Johnson, Companions in Courage Foundation, 914-325-4870
Veronica Alif, DuPont, 212-880-5331

 BUFFALO, NY—Efforts to enhance care for pediatric and teen cancer patients at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) were given a star-powered boost today by NHL Hockey Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine and friends. LaFontaine and sponsors including DuPont and the Buffalo Sabres Foundation unveiled the nation's fourth "Lion's Den"—a high-tech interactive playroom designed to decrease feelings of isolation experienced in a hospital by increasing connections to family, friends and celebrities.

The brightly colored activity room is a modern day oasis for patients. It is the keystone of a reconstruction project that has created a single outpatient/inpatient Pediatric Center to improve services for families. The room's creation was supported by funds raised through events benefiting Carly's Club for Kids and Cancer Research at Roswell Park, and from generous local and national corporate grants and in-kind gifts.

Championed by LaFontaine's Companions in Courage Foundation, the Lion's Den at Roswell Park is outfitted with flat screen TVs, Microsoft® Xbox 360 video games, video teleconferencing and internet-ready computers. The room will provide an outlet for children to connect and play with children at other Lion's Dens, and to chat with loved ones, teachers or friends locally and across the country. In addition, kids will have the chance to meet national celebrities and sports heroes via videoconferencing arranged by the Companions in Courage Foundation.

"These one-of-a-kind rooms are intended to help stimulate hospitalized children by introducing technology into the healing process," said LaFontaine. "By providing a colorful place where they can play and interact, we hope to ensure that no child in the fight for life or health should ever have to go through it alone."

LaFontaine said he saw the benefits that resulted from his personal visits with children when he regularly visited area hospitals including Roswell Park as the captain of the Buffalo Sabres during the 1990s. His penchant for giving, and the inspiration he derived from visiting the children, moved him to create the Companions in Courage Foundation in 1997. His immediate goal is to build interactive playrooms throughout North America.

One unique aspect of the Roswell Park Lion's Den is that the brightly colored panels, chairs, and tables custom-created for the room's signature cheerful look are made entirely from DuPont™ Corian® solid surfaces. DuPont's Buffalo plant is the primary manufacturing plant for Corian® worldwide, and the company provided over $75,000 in custom-fabricated product and installation for the room.

"We are dedicated to helping the community in a meaningful way," Thomas Schuler, DuPont Building Innovations vice president and general manager, said. "With Corian®, we not only add a splash of color to the children's environment, but due to its easy-to-clean, seamless surface, it also helps hospital staff with infection control."

Martin Brecher, MD, the Waldemar J. Kaminski Chair of Pediatric Oncology at Roswell Park, added that the Lion's Den will assist his staff in helping improve patients' and families' emotional and psychological quality of life. “The room provides children with an opportunity to continue to develop socially had they not gotten sick—something especially important for adolescents, each establishing his/her own self image,” said Brecher. "It's an important tool to make time in a hospital less foreign, and more in-touch with their day-to-day lives."

In addition to DuPont, national partners for the Lion's Den at Roswell Park Cancer Institute include Microsoft Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc. and ESI Design. Local supporters include the Buffalo Sabres Foundation; Calspan Corporation; Capital Management Services, L.P.; Complete Fabrication & Machine; PAETEC; Samuel, Son and Company, Inc.; SEFCU Foundation; and the Estate of Catherine Sheehan. The Mattel Children's Fund and Samuel, Son and Company, Inc. also supported upgrades to Roswell Park's Pediatric Center including new furniture and exam tables.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation's first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation's leading cancer centers. Roswell Park has affiliate sites and collaborative programs in New York, Pennsylvania, and in China, For more information, visit RPCI's website at www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or e-mail askrpci@roswellpark.org.

For more information about …

• Carly’s Club for Kids and Cancer Research, visit www.carlysclub.org.
• Pat LaFontaine's Companions in Courage Foundation, visit www.CiC16.org.
• DuPont Surfaces and Building Innovations (a strategic business unit of DuPont that manufactures and markets Corian® solid surfaces), see www.surfaces.dupont.com.