One of the roles we treasure most at Kimmel and Silverman is serving as automotive consumer advocates, working with reporters and producers throughout the Nation to educate consumers on their lemon law and car buying rights.  Our efforts and our clients have been featured in hundreds of consumer stories, each designed to empower consumers to fight for their rights.

One of our favorite consumer reporters, beloved Pittsburgh reporter Yvonne Zanos, succumbed to ovarian cancer today, two days following her sixtieth birthday.  Over the years, we shared so many wonderful times with Yvonne; checking out the hot new rides at the Pittsburgh Auto Show, scouring through mall parking lots looking for cars that appear on NHTSA’s annual car complaint index, and just setting up cameras in the middle of car dealerships (and no one ever turned her away.)  Her smile was contagious, her anecdotes hilarious, and her love for the people of Pittsburgh unwavering.

Together, we worked to solve many consumer dilemmas, and the stories we collaborated on always generated a large amount of response.  She had her pulse on her viewer and she always knew the best way to tell the story.  She was at the forefront when Pennsylvania expanded the Lemon Law, and again with the first-ever computer lemon law bill.  If you called her with useful, up-to-the minute information, you could be assured she’d share it with her viewers at 5:00.

Our last correspondence with Yvonne was right before Thanksgiving, and she was front and center in the newsroom despite receiving treatments.  As she always did with her reporting, Yvonne fought a good fight, with an incredible combination of wit, grace and tenacity.

Our love and condolences go out to her family in Bethel Park, PA, her family in the Pittsburgh broadcasting community, and her many viewers, fans and friends throughout Western Pennsylvania.

To Yvonne’s fans, you can show your love by contributing to a cause close to her heart, the KDKA TV Turkey Fund.  More information about Yvonne and the fund can be found by clicking here.

Philadelphia, PA – 1-800 LEMON LAW, the Nationally-recognized Lemon Law and Consumer Advocacy Firm of Kimmel & Silverman, will sponsor a live telethon benefiting Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer. The live, call-in special will air from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on KYW TV, the Philadelphia CBS affiliate.

The Foundation is named in honor of Alexandra Scott, a brave little girl who ultimately lost her life to cancer at the age of eight. Four years prior to her passing, Alex developed her own way to raise funds so that other children would not have to endure what she had suffered. She opened a lemonade stand on her lawn and all the monies would go toward cancer research. Her parents, Liz and Jay Scott, have carried on Alex’s legacy, devoting their lives to raising awareness and funds for cancer research.

The telethon kicks off the 5th annual ALSF Lemonade Days, a 3-day national event where volunteers host lemonade stands throughout the Country, all raising monies to fight pediatric cancer and to fund new research studies. Last year, during Lemonade Days, more than 1500 lemonade stands raised over $1 million toward Alex’s efforts.

“It is difficult to think of a more worthy cause than Alex’s Lemonade Stand,” says 1-800 LEMON LAW Founding Partner Craig Thor Kimmel. “Alex’s Lemonade Stand is a grass roots effort by every day people who care, helping those who need it most. Our firm was founded on the same ideal of helping those in need and doing so without asking anything in return. We salute Alex’s Lemonade Stand for their continued efforts in curing this horrible disease.”

To donate to this very worthy cause, please visit www.alexslemonade.org.

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About Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation:

Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) emerged from the front yard lemonade stand of cancer patient Alexandra “Alex” Scott (1996-2004). At the age of 4, Alex announced that she wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help find a cure for all children with cancer. Since Alex held that first stand, the Foundation bearing her name has evolved into a national fundraising movement, complete with thousands of volunteers across the country carrying on her legacy of hope. To date, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a registered 501(c)3 charity, has raised more than $19 million towards fulfilling Alex’s dream of finding a cure, funding over 80 research projects nationally including those examining leukemia, brain tumors, neuroblastoma, Wilm’s tumor, lymphoma, and osteosarcoma among others. For more information, visit www.AlexsLemonade.org.

About Kimmel & Silverman, P.C.

Kimmel & Silverman is the oldest and largest lemon law firm in the Northeast, and the only lemon law firm in the Nation to be honored by the American Bar Association (Meritorious Recognition, Louis M. Brown Legal Access Award). Since its inception in 1991, the Firm has provided free lemon law and breach of warranty help to more than 40,000 consumers, recovering over $145 million for their clients. The Firm has six full-service offices in Eastern and Western Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Massachusetts. For more information regarding our services, please call 1-800-LEMON-LAW (1-800-536-6652) or visit www.lemonlaw.com.