DALLAS - 7-Eleven announced the re-launch of Operation Chill, a community program that rewards "good behavior" with a Slurpee while building positive relationships between local law enforcement and youths.

Operation Chill provides coupons to participating police and sheriff departments, who can then "ticket" youngsters with the free beverage coupons. Designed to reward youngster involved in positive community activities ?" i.e. helping another person, wearing a bicycle helmet, etc. ?" the coupons are redeemable at participating stores for a small Slurpee.

The program was first launched in 1995, and since then, more than 10 million Operation Chill coupons have been distributed. This summer, the program will award 1 million coupons to kids in more than 300 cities, town, and counties, including Los Angeles, San Diego, New York, Boston, Orlando, Tampa, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, and Richmond (Virginia).

"Operation Chill continues to be one of our most popular community projects," said Mike Suppe, 7-Eleven??s loss prevention manager for southern California. "Kids love it because they love Slurpee drinks. Police officers love it because it gives them a positive reason for them to approach youngsters and thank them for being good citizens.

"Rewarding a million kids with free Slurpees for doing something right is the right thing to do for a lot of different reasons," Suppe said. "Operation Chill helps build strong relationships in the community and recognizes young people??s good deeds."