Press Release Details

KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 19, 2005--H&R Block (NYSE: HRB)today announced the launch of a national Light The Night Walk team. The Light The Night Walk is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's nationwide fundraiser designed to build awareness of blood cancers and raise funds for cures.

Light The Night Walk events take place in more than 200 locations across the country. Walkers of all ages carry illuminated balloons to celebrate and commemorate lives touched by cancer. The Walk is also a community celebration, with music, refreshments and family activities.

H&R Block associates have participated in the Light The Night Walk in previous years. But this is the first time that all of the company's business units have joined together to form a national walk team.

"We believe that as one corporate team, we will be able to make an even greater impact than we could on an individual basis," said Andrea Allison-Putman, director of community relations for H&R Block. "Joining forces will enable us to pool our resources, get more associates involved and increase the support we provide to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society."

As part of Light The Night, associates with H&R Block, H&R Block Financial Advisors, Option One Mortgage Corporation, H&R Block Mortgage Corporation and RSM McGladrey will help raise money to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's mission to cure blood cancers and improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

"Every five minutes someone in the United States is newly diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma, and every ten minutes someone dies from these cancers," said Dwayne Howell, the Society's president and chief executive officer. "We are enormously grateful for the support H&R Block and its associates have shown for the Light the Night Walk. Their efforts are really helping to save lives."

Last year, approximately 200,000 people raised more than $24 million through Light The Night Walk events in more than 200 communities nationwide.

About H&R Block

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2005, H&R Block is the world's largest tax services provider, having served more than 400 million clients since 1955. The sixth largest retailer in the world, H&R Block has more than 12,000 locations serving taxpayers primarily in the United States, Canada and Australia.

H&R Block's subsidiaries deliver tax services and financial advice, investment and mortgage services, and business accounting and consulting services. H&R Block Financial Advisors Inc. offers investment services and securities products. With approximately 1,000 financial advisors serving clients at approximately 270 locations, H&R Block Financial Advisors is a member NYSE, SIPC, a registered broker-dealer and investment advisor. H&R Block Inc. is not a registered broker-dealer and is not an investment advisor. H&R Block Mortgage Corp. offers a full range of retail mortgage services. Option One Mortgage Corp. provides mortgage services and offers wholesale mortgages through large financial institutions and a network of 24,000 independent mortgage brokers. RSM McGladrey Business Services Inc. and its subsidiaries serve mid-sized businesses and their owners with tax, accounting and business consulting services, as well as personal wealth management services. H&R Block Small Business Resources is a new business currently operating in 14 U. S. cities that serves the tax, financial and business needs of small business owners. H&R Block Small Business Resources is not a licensed CPA firm. For more information about the company, visit our Online Press Center at www.hrblock.com/presscenter.

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society(R), headquartered in White Plains, N.Y., with 66 chapters in the United States and Canada, is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. The Society's mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since its founding in 1949, the Society has invested more than $424 million in research specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Last year alone, the Society made over 2.5 million contacts with patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals.

For more information about blood cancer, visit www.LLS.org or call the Society's Information Resource Center (IRC), a call center staffed by master's level social workers, nurses and health educators who provide information, support and resources to patients and their families and caregivers. IRC information specialists are available at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

CONTACT: H&R Block
Dan Grubbs, 816-932-4894
dgrubbs@hrblock.com
or
Christine Sullivan, 949-790-3600 ext. 35204
christine.sullivan@oomc.com

SOURCE: H&R Block