Now Reading
Nickelodeon To Award More Than $1 Million Through 'Let's Just Play' Giveaways, Empowering Kids To Facilitate Play In Local Communities
Nickelodeon To Award More Than $1 Million Through 'Let's Just Play' Giveaways, Empowering Kids To Facilitate Play In Local Communities
Published 08-03-05
Submitted by Nickelodeon
For 10 months, Nickelodeon will award a minimum of 20 winners per month with $5,000 each to help facilitate play in their community. The "Let's Just Play" Giveaway will be promoted on-air beginning Aug. 6 with "call for entries" spots, driving kids to download entry forms on www.nick.com. To enter, kids, partnering with teachers and other community-based leaders, must tell Nickelodeon what they need for their school or club to help them play better and why, and give three reasons why play is important. Once the entry form is completed and mailed to Nickelodeon, the winners will be randomly selected and announced via Nickelodeon Online at the top of each month, beginning in September.
"In our first year of the Giveaway, it was undeniably clear that communities are challenged for resources that can connect kids with active, healthy play," said Marva Smalls, executive vice president, Nickelodeon Public Affairs. "The 'Let's Just Play' Giveaway is designed to empower kids to be catalysts for play in their communities by directly connecting them to a funding mechanism."
As a partner of the "Let's Just Play" Giveaway, Kellogg will match a Nickelodeon grant of $100,000 for September, enabling the network to award funding to 40 winners that month. Kellogg's branding will be tagged in the on-air "call for entries" spots and highlighted on the "Let's Just Play" micro-site on Nick.com throughout the month of August. The partnership is part of the network's efforts to bring corporate partners on-board for the "Let's Just Play" Giveaway in order to increase the total funds distributed to $2 million.
To commemorate the "Let's Just Play" Giveaway winners and as part of the overall campaign, on Sat., Oct. 1, Nickelodeon will celebrate the second annual Worldwide Day of Play and "go dark" for three hours. The network will pre-empt regularly scheduled programming with full-screen images including messages encouraging kids to be active and to engage in physical play and the Worldwide Day of Play logo. As part of the "Let's Just Play" Giveaway, kids are encouraged to participate in the Worldwide Day of Play. The first-ever Worldwide Day of Play, held as part of the 2004 "Let's Just Play" program, resulted in 1800 grassroots events and participation from more than 250,000 kids and families.
During last year's "Let's Just Play" Grants Program, which was designed to help foster healthy and active lifestyles within local communities, Nickelodeon awarded a total of $600,000 dollars in grants to more than 80 schools and other organizations across the United States. More than 1,800 grant applications were received
from every state in the country for the 2004-2005 "Let's Just Play" Grants Program, expressing more than $9 million in need. Ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 each, the grants were given to applicants who demonstrated a comprehensive plan for encouraging play in their area. The funds are being used for a range of different things like implementing PE programming or providing necessities like athletic equipment. More details on last year's grant recipients' individual programs are available upon request.
About Nickelodeon's "Let's Just Play" Pro-Social Campaign
Currently in its third year, "Let's Just Play" is Nickelodeon's pro-social commitment to encourage kids to participate in active, healthy, and playful lifestyles - a much needed antidote to reports of the rise in childhood obesity, the concerns about reduction of PE in schools and in after-school programs, and the over-scheduled and sedentary lifestyles of kids today. In addition to using the power of Nickelodeon's air, online sites, and celebrity support, the channel devotes significant year-round resources to building a grassroots infrastructure that supports physical play opportunities in communities everywhere. "Let's Just Play" was recently awarded four Cable Television Public Affairs Association Beacon Awards, which recognize excellence in the public affairs industry. For more information on the "Let's Just Play" program, visit www.everythingnick.com.
About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon, now in its 26th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 89 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for ten consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.
About Kellogg
With 2004 sales of nearly $10 billion, Kellogg Company (NYSE:K) is the world's leading producer of cereal and a leading producer of convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, frozen waffles, meat alternatives, piecrusts, and ice cream cones. The company's brands include Kellogg's, Keebler, Pop-Tarts, Eggo, Cheez-It, Nutri-Grain, Rice Krispies, Murray, Austin, Morningstar Farms, Famous Amos, Carr's, Plantation, Ready Crust, and Kashi. Kellogg products are manufactured in 17 countries and marketed in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information, visit Kellogg's web site at www.kelloggcompany.com.
