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Julianne Moore's Valentine's wish: Save the children

By April MacIntyre Jan 30, 2009, 13:48 GMT

Julianne Moore is spearheading the Save the Children Valentine's Day Card Campaign. Good egg Julianne Moore. Moore was interviewed on CNN this morning and shared her latest Valentine passion: Enlisting some of the finest children's illustrators to create meaningful and cute valentine's day cards for parents to purchase for their kids instead of the usual cookie cutter cartoon ones filling the bins of mass retailers.. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON

Good egg Julianne Moore. Moore was interviewed on CNN this morning and shared her latest Valentine passion: Enlisting some of the finest children's illustrators to create meaningful and cute valentine's day cards for parents to purchase for their kids instead of the usual cookie cutter cartoon ones filling the bins of mass retailers.. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHONMoore was interviewed on CNN this morning and shared her latest Valentine passion: Enlisting some of the finest children's illustrators to create meaningful and cute valentine's day cards for parents to purchase for their kids instead of the usual cookie cutter cartoon ones filling the bins of mass retailers.This year, Moore asked some of the children's book illustrators that she admires most to design exclusive Valentine's Day cards, It was an idea that appealed to the children's book author, who told CNN she picked up the phone and made the calls personally to bring artists into the project. Illustrators who helped Moore in her cause for Save the Children Valentine's Day campaign include Ian Falconer (the "Olivia the Pig" series), Kevin Henkes ("Lily's Purple Plastic Purse"), Mo Willems ("Leonardo the Terrible Monster"), Brian Selznick ("The Invention of Hugo Cabret"), Marla Frazee ("A Couple of Boys Have Their Best Week Ever"), Rosemary Wells ("Max and Ruby," "Noisy Nora") and LeUyen Pham ("Freckleface Strawberry" by Julianne Moore).Moore is a Save the Children's Ambassador - encouraging kids to help kids this Valentine's Day - by sending cards that will benefit America's poor: the 1 in 6 Nationwide and the 1 in 5 rural children who live in poverty."We're living in a country where it is unfathomable that these numbers exist for children in poverty, and every child should have an equal opportunity," said Moore. "The only way to give these children opportunity is through education, and Save the Children is helping us reach that goal. I've seen these programs, in some of poorest, most remote communities in America, and I know they work."To order the cards, visit Save the Children at www.savethechildren.org or 1-800-728-3843. Both the children's artwork and the illustrators' designs are available in boxes of 28 cards for a donation of $25. Orders must be made by February 4, 2009."I was so excited by the response I received from some of the best-loved children's illustrators in the country," said Moore, who has two school-aged children. "Every mother has to go out and buy enough Valentine's Day cards for a classroom of kids each year, so why not choose these delightful designs that make a difference for children in our country, at a time when they really need our help."Save the Children began its work in the United States in 1932, to help the coal mining families of Appalachia during the Great Depression.