Jamba Juice, the San Francisco-based smoothie shop, has implored the March of Dimes not to use any of its donated funds for research using animals. The organization continues to divert millions of dollars to animal experiments that are not likely to be productive in the fight against birth defects. Jamba Juice executives asked that their money be used for prenatal care and health education for mothers, which has been shown to produce significant results. The March of Dimes has complied with the company's wishes that their charity dollars do just that.

Last year, the March of Dimes raised approximately $200 million nationally, with large states such as California allocating 31 percent toward research, including animal experiments that provide no benefits for human babies. PCRM has created the Humane Seal of Approval, which identifies charities that never experiment on animals so companies and individuals can be sure that their charity dollars are used to support relevant, life-saving human clinical trials and educational initiatives in birth defects prevention. For more information on humane giving or to request a March of Dimes Action Pack, please call PCRM at 202-686-2210, ext. 329, or e-mail kkuhn@pcrm.org.