Anyone familiar with the timeless tale of Annie knows that she never goes anywhere without her trusty sidekick – her beloved dog Sandy. To celebrate the Friday, 30 January 2015 release of the Annie movie, Sony Movies SA, together with the NSPCA and Eukanuba, will be launching the ‘Lend A Paw with Annie’ campaign.

It’s a call to all children and their families to help the animals at the SPCAs by donating non-perishable pet food, like tins or pellets as well as toys or blankets to help those in need over this holiday season. These donations will be redistributed to individual SPCAs across South Africa. 

When South Africans head to their nearest cinema from Friday, 5 December, they will find fun Annie-themed hopscotch mats that lead to a giant donation box where they can drop off their donations. For those who aren’t able to make it to a cinema, but would still love to be involved, SMS ‘ANNIE’ to 38018 (each SMS costs R25) or visitwww.annie-movie.co.za, where they will be able to make a monetary donation directly to the NSPCA. 

There are 89 individual SPCAs throughout South Africa who rescue and take in and care for homeless, abandoned and neglected animals every day and Eukanuba produce super-premium pet food enhancing the wellbeing of cats and dogs – making them awesome partners for this great cause.

Fans can also snap a donation selfie and upload it to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using the #LendAPaw hashtag. There are great prizes to be won and SMS donations will be entered automatically. 

Eukanuba will also be running a photo competition via Facebook, inviting people to send in stories together with photos of their own rescue pets for a chance to win more Annie and Eukanuba prizes. 

For more information about the ‘Lend A Paw with Annie’ initiative, visit www.annie-movie.co.za. Be sure to visit and like Sony Movies SA’s Facebook page and follow them to stand in line to win great giveaways ahead of the film’s release on Friday, 30 January 2015. A full list of the participating cinemas can also be found on the website.

A Broadway classic that has delighted audiences for generations comes to the big screen with a new, contemporary vision in Columbia Pictures’ comedy Annie. Academy Award nominee Quvenzhané Wallis stars as Annie, a young, happy foster kid who is also tough enough to make her way on the streets of New York in 2014. Originally left by her parents as a baby with the promise that they’d be back for her someday, it’s been a hard knock life ever since with her mean foster mom Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz). But everything’s about to change when the hard-nosed tycoon and New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx) – advised by his brilliant VP, Grace (Rose Byrne) and his shrewd and scheming campaign advisor, Guy (Bobby Cannavale) – makes a thinly-veiled campaign move and takes her in. Stacks believes he’s her guardian angel, but Annie’s self-assured nature and bright, sun-will-come-out-tomorrow outlook on life just might mean it’s the other way around.

For more information on the NSPCA, visit www.nspca.co.za.