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Reality comes to Pine Valley in home building storyline

ABC Daytime continues its commitment to community outreach by joining forces with the faith-based organization, Habitat for Humanity, in a compelling new storyline on "All My Children."

"Several of our major characters are engaged in building a home for Habitat for Humanity in a neighborhood of our fictitious town, Pine Valley. We will be interweaving this most admirable work into several of our ongoing storylines in order to show that many different types of people can come together in a worthwhile project such as this," says show head writer Megan McTavish.

Additionally, on Wednesday, May 28, "All My Children" cast members, including Susan Lucci, will volunteer at the Habitat for Humanity-New York City site, located at 150th street between Tinton and Union Avenues in the Mott Haven/Hunts Point area of the Bronx.

In other storylines dedicated to socially relevant entertainment, ABC daytime has featured a drug addition storyline on "One Life to Live" and a teenage breast cancer storyline on "General Hospital." "All My Children's" work with Habitat for Humanity continues to provide valuable information and exposure to these ongoing social and medical issues.

Habitat for Humanity - New York City's mission is to build community by constructing homes for ownership with people with low-to-medium incomes. The Habitat for Humanity building method -- using sweat equity, abandoned land bought for $1.00, and volunteers to do much of the construction --makes it possible to build low-cost homes with New Yorkers in need. These homes represent Habitat for Humanity - NYC's third development in the Bronx. Mott Haven has the highest percentage of people living in poverty (65.3%) in New York City. Its home ownership rate of only 10.4% is one of the lowest in NYC. Housing affordability problems in the Bronx have been a persistent, with 29.1% of Bronx residents spending more than 50% of their incomes on housing - the highest rate of any borough. Despite these facts, Mott Haven is experiencing revitalization. Habitat for Humanity - NYC believes that it can contribute to these recent advancements by building community in the Bronx.

"All My Children's" effort is part of the Disney VoluntEARS program, an international, company-wide employee volunteer initiative, logging more than 2.5 million volunteer hours for local community projects in its 11-year history. The program is administered by DisneyHand, the worldwide outreach program for The Walt Disney Company, which is dedicated to making the dreams of families and children a reality through public service initiatives, community outreach and volunteerism in the areas of learning, compassion, the arts and the environment. The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a diversified, international family entertainment and media enterprise which includes Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, The Walt Disney Studios, ABC, Inc., ESPN, Disney Channel, Disney Stores, television and radio stations and Internet web sites. For more information on Disney's corporate public service efforts, please visit our Web site at www.DisneyHand.com.

"All My Children" celebrated its 33rd anniversary in January, 2003. The program has successfully maintained its popularity and continues to be one of Daytime's most compelling dramas. "All My Children" took home the 1998 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, the third time the show received this top honor, having also garnered the award in 1994 and 1992. The show also received its third consecutive Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Writing. "All My Children" received its second Writers Guild Award and its second GLAAD Media Award in 2002. The show recently won eight Daytime Emmy Awards.

Created by Agnes Nixon, "All My Children" premiered on the ABC Television Network on January 5, 1970, as a half-hour show; seven years later it expanded to an hour. Jean Dadario Burke is exective producer, Megan McTavish is head writer with Conal O'Brien and Angela Tessinari directing. "All My Children" is produced in New York and airs MONDAY-FRIDAY (1:00-2:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network.

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