Is it possible to create a multi-line string variable in a Makefile

Question

I want to create a makefile variable that is a multi-line string (e.g. the body of an email release announcement). something like

ANNOUNCE_BODY=\"
Version $         


        

Answer 1

Not really a helpful answer, but just to indicate that 'define' does not work as answered by Ax (did not fit in a comment):

VERSION=4.3.1
PACKAGE_NAME=foobar
DOWNLOAD_URL=www.foobar.com

define ANNOUNCE_BODY
    Version $(VERSION) of $(PACKAGE_NAME) has been released
    It can be downloaded from $(DOWNLOAD_URL)
    etc, etc
endef

all:
    @echo $(ANNOUNCE_BODY)

It gives an error that the command 'It' cannot be found, so it tries to interpret the second line of ANNOUNCE BODY as a command.