Whirlpool Corporation was honored today with the 2006 Cause Marketing Golden Halo Award for Business during the fifth annual Cause Marketing Forum conference. The Cause Marketing Golden Halo Award is America's highest honor for companies and organizations that give back to the community through creative and effective cause marketing campaigns.

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The award recognizes Whirlpool Corporation and its Whirlpool and KitchenAid brands for their long-term, successful partnerships with Habitat for Humanity International and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

"We are pleased to be recognized for two important causes that are close to the hearts of our customers and employees -- eliminating substandard housing and fighting breast cancer," said Jeff Davidoff, vice president of marketing communications, Whirlpool Corporation.

"The Cause Marketing Halo Awards demonstrate the good that can be done when businesses and nonprofits team up," said David Hessekiel, president of Cause Marketing Forum Inc., the program's organizer. "It's a competition in which we all win." Cause marketing is the strategy of building mutually beneficial alliances between companies and causes.

Building Homes....Building Lives

One of Habitat's largest corporate sponsors, Whirlpool and its employees have directly improved the lives of tens of thousands of families around the world since 1999, providing countless volunteer hours and more than 73,000 appliances. Whirlpool donates an ENERGY STAR® qualified refrigerator and a range to every new Habitat home built in North America, and plans to support every Habitat home built globally by 2011, either through product donations, cash, or home sponsorship.

This week, Whirlpool employees, local residents and Habitat volunteers from around the country are building nine homes outside of Phoenix, Ariz., as part of the annual Whirlpool Building Blocks program. The Building Blocks program is designed to raise awareness and help eliminate substandard housing in the United States by recognizing an outstanding U.S. Habitat for Humanity affiliate and its relationship with its local community by holding a week-long build in the affiliate's community. The program kicked off in November 2006 with the completion of 10 homes in Nashville, Tenn. For more information on the Building Blocks program, please visit www.whirlpool.com/habitat

In addition to the Building Blocks program, Whirlpool has and continues to support Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. In 2006, Whirlpool donated $1 million for relief efforts and Whirlpool employees helped construct approximately 50 homes in St. Tamany Parrish, La. In January 2007, Whirlpool continued its support when it held its annual sales meeting in New Orleans. As part of that meeting, more than 1,000 Whirlpool employees spent one day volunteering with Habitat for Humanity to help rebuild New Orleans' residential areas.

Fighting Breast Cancer ... One Cook at a Time

Now in its sixth year, the Cook for the Cure program, created and sponsored by KitchenAid, has raised more than $5 million globally to support the fight against breast cancer, more than $4 million of that in the United States benefiting Komen for the Cure.

Funds are raised through donation with purchase programs, culinary auctions and events, and a grass roots initiative that encourages consumers to host their own "party with a purpose" to generate donations from family and friends. Cook for the Cure also has drawn the support of many of the country's most celebrated chefs, including Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse, Mary Sue Milliken, Susan Feniger, Sara Moulton, Jacques Pepin and others.

Cook for the Cure continues to create unique opportunities for raising money for Komen for the Cure. Activities planned for 2007 include a Mother's Day promotion called "I Cook for My Mom" and the second annual Survivor's Week, an experience for breast cancer survivors at a cooking school in Tuscany, Italy.

The program has been honored twice with awards from the Cause Marketing Forum, and was recently featured as a model for cause marketing programs on CNN, CNBC and NBC Nightly News. For more information on Cook for the Cure, please visit www.cookforthecure.com.

In addition to receiving the award on behalf of the company, Davidoff was a featured speaker at the conference and delivered addresses on corporate service and nonprofit partnerships.

Whirlpool Corporation was selected by the Cause Marketing Forum as this year's winner based on its leadership in developing cause alliances that benefit the company, its nonprofit partners and society. All winners will be highlighted in a special section of Advertising Age magazine.

About Cause Marketing Forum Inc.

Cause Marketing Forum, Inc. helps businesses and nonprofits succeed together by providing practical information, valuable contacts and recognition for outstanding achievement. Best known for its annual conference and awards program, the company disseminates helps cause marketers year round via www.causemarketingforum.com, teleclasses, regional workshops and other services.

About Whirlpool Corporation

Whirlpool Corporation is the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, with annual sales of approximately $18 billion, more than 73,000 employees, and more than 70 manufacturing and technology research centers around the world. The company markets Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Brastemp, Bauknecht and other major brand names to consumers in nearly every country around the world. Additional information about the company can be found at http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com/.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: jody_lau@whirlpool.com

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SOURCE: Whirlpool Corporation