• In March 2009, tens of thousands of pairs of new sunglasses and reading glasses, worth in the neighborhood of $1 million, have been donated to people in need in a unique community effort spearheaded by Hudson Group. When Hudson recently switched vendors for the glasses sold in our 400+ newsstands, Hudson offered to donate all remaining inventory to two organizations that specialize in supplying eyeglasses to needy persons in the U.S. and around the world: New Eyes for the Needy in Short Hills, New Jersey, and Lions Club International, headquartered in Chicago. Local chapters of the two organizations organized pickups from the dozens of airports and commuter terminals serviced by Hudson.
• Following Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005, collection boxes in our 500 stores across North America netted over $85,000. The Cohen Family, owners of Hudson News, our parent company, matched the first $50,000 contributed by our customers. So Hudson Group was able to mail a check for more than $135,000 to the Katrina Relief Fund of the American Red Cross.
• In lieu of corporate holiday gifts, Hudson each year makes donations to worthy charities on behalf of our friends and business associates. In 2005, the donation went to support the ACI-AAAE Joint Katrina Relief Fund, to directly assist employees of airports directly affected by the hurricanes of 2005. In 2006, two national charities received our support...Meals on Wheels and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
• Hudson Booksellers, a brand unit of Hudson Group, participates each year in Los Angeles' Feria del Libro, a family book fair that last year attracted more than 20,000 people and encouraged children, especially those from the inner city, to read.
• In the summer of 2006, Hudson Group donated several thousand surplus goodie bags and velour vests to the City of Chicago's annual Summerfest for the elderly.
• In Chicago, Hudson Group is a perennial sponsor of Mayor Daley's After School Matters. This program engages teenagers in hands-on, interactive activities led by skilled professionals in the arts, technology, sports, communications, and more. Programs range from drop-in club activities through skill-building apprenticeships to paid internships.

Honoring the "Greatest Generation" in Okaloosa

On the morning of April 1, Hudson News at North West Florida Regional Airport served 150 WW II veterans and their escorts before leaving for their Honor Flight to Washington DC to visit the WWII Memorial.

Hudson associates, under the direction of Okaloosa Supervisor Tony Taylor, served coffee, Quiznos breakfast sandwiches and water or juice to the vets, who ranged in age from 70 to 90 years of age. (We also served our regular airport travelers.)

The Hudson team was augmented with local community veterans groups. Airport executives thanked Hudson Group and George Waldron (Quiznos) for their support of this moving event.

On the return flight that evening, as the wheelchairs rolled past Hudson News, each tired but happy veteran was presented with a goodie bag which included a pair of sunglasses from Hudson's excess stock, as well as mini-massagers from our Discover Channel Airport Store stock.

Hudson Crosses the Finish Line at the 22nd Annual LA Marathon

In March, Hudson Group was a proud sponsor of the 2007 Marathon, sponsored by the City of Los Angeles. The company's donation went to defray the cost of transportation for the many runners from around the globe who participated in the event.

Kenya's Fred Mogaka and Russia's Ramilia Burangulova were the first to cross the Finish Line under a Hudson Group banner that read, "Running to the Airport? Visit our great stores in LAX!"

Hudson News stores in the airport also featured posters and flyers promoting the event to passengers in the terminals.