HALLMARK CHANNEL & EMMY� AWARD WINNER REGIS PHILBIN TO HONOR ORDINARY PEOPLE WITH EXTRAORDINARY HEARTS

SECOND EDITION OF 'HALLMARK HEROES WITH REGIS PHILBIN,' AN HOUR-LONG TELEVISION SPECIAL, AIRS DECEMBER 25 ONLY ON HALLMARK CHANNEL

Special Also Includes Recognition of Celebrity Hero Jane Seymour

The holidays are a time of giving and this Christmas Day, Hallmark Channel proudly honors those who have given more than could ever be expected or asked of them in the second edition of "Hallmark Heroes with Regis Philbin," a one-hour special starring the Emmy� Award-winning host of "LIVE with Regis and Kelly," Regis Philbin, premiering Thursday, December 25 (8/7 c).

The program will feature in-studio interviews with each of the honorees, stories and testimonies highlighting the amazing contributions they have made and a special surprise in store for each of them as well. In addition to being recognized as a "Hallmark Hero," each honoree will be presented with a specially-designed plaque recognizing their work, along with a check for $5,000 to be used towards their future charitable endeavors.

Coupled with these everyday heroes, Regis will also welcome and honor a special celebrity hero: Actress, author, designer and Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jane Seymour, who will be recognized for her extensive work on behalf of the American Red Cross and their Measles Initiative. In addition to serving as an American Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet Member, Seymour served as the host of "Disease of the Wind," a documentary which was filmed by her husband, actor and director James Keach, chronicling the tragedy of measles and the race to eliminate the disease. The documentary follows Seymour and a team from Red Cross through a seven day humanitarian journey to Kenya in 2002.

Hallmark Channels CEO Henry Schleiff says, "It is our deep honor to recognize these selfless individuals. It's a testament to the power of the human spirit and will to do good that, even in these difficult times, so many Americans continue to think of the wellbeing of others as much as � if not more than � their own. They are advocates of hope and Hallmark Channel, along with the iconic Regis Philbin, applauds each of these 'Hallmark Heroes.'"

"Hallmark Heroes With Regis Philbin" will honor the following deserving individuals:

� Kathy Hatfield of Winston-Salem, NC. Dealing with care giving for her Alzheimer's-impaired father inspired her, along with older sister Nancy, to start www.KnowItAlz.com, which consists of a blog that shows the lighter side of caring for someone with dementia, as well as hundreds of pages of information about the disease and caring for someone affected by it. In early 2008, they founded The Almost Home Group, which seeks to build eco-friendly group homes, which will serve as interim housing for people with early stage dementia.

� Venezuela native and San Francisco resident Manny Hernandez, founder of TuDiabetes.com and the President of the Diabetes Hands Foundation (http://diabeteshandsfoundation.org), a nonprofit with the goal of having no people with diabetes feel alone and people without diabetes learning more about what it's like to live with diabetes. In 2002, he was diagnosed with LADA diabetes, and since 2007, he has been writing about diabetes for web sites like dLife and MyDiabetesCentral.com. He is a board member of iPump.org and, come Spring 2009, his first book "Ning For Dummies" will be published.

� Hal Honeyman of St. Charles, IL. A cycling enthusiast who has been involved with bicycles as a sport, business, and recreation for nearly thirty years. After helping his son, who has Cerebral Palsy, find bicycles that he could ride despite his disability, Hal founded Project Mobility: Cycles for Life, which finds or creates specialized bikes to accommodate different types of conditions, and takes the bikes to places where disabled people can see them and try them. Convinced of cycling's power to foster a sense of freedom and mobility in those who may otherwise not have such sensations, Hal still runs The Bike Rack, the family owned and run bike store where his love for cycling began.

� John Beltzer, of Forest Hills, NY. In 1993, after a record deal fell through, John founded The Songs of Love Foundation, named for the one of the last songs his twin brother penned prior to his death in 1984. The foundation creates uplifting, personalized songs for children and teens struggling with a life-threatening illness or lifetime disability--free of charge. Each CD is professionally produced with lyrics containing the child's name and references to all of his or her favorite activities, things, people, and pets. Since 1996, Songs of Love has reached out to more than 17,000 children and has been honored with some of the nonprofit community's highest accolades. Performers such as Billy Joel, David Lee Roth, Jamie Lynn-Sigler, Nancy Sinatra, Michael Bolton and Ronnie Spector have all contributed their voices on a "Song of Love" for an individual sick child.

Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of 86 million subscribers. The top tier program service is distributed through more than 5,450 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel consistently ranks among the top 10 ad-supported cable networks in Prime Time and Total Day household ratings and is the nation's leading network in providing quality family programming. Crown Media also operates a second 24-hour linear channel which plays the greatest family movies of all time, Hallmark Movie Channel, and launched Hallmark Movie Channel HD in April, 2008.