Community Corner
NFL TEAMS UP WITH JETS, GIANTS AND LOCAL SCHOOLS FOR SUPER BOWL PROJECT TO HELP CHILDREN IN NEED
NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY – Public and private schools in New York and New Jersey are teaming up with the National Football League, the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee, the New York Jets and the New York Giants, Riverbank State Park, Essex County College and Verizon for a Super Bowl project that puts books, sports equipment and school supplies into the hands of local children in need. The project, called Super Kids-Super Sharing, has been implemented in Super Bowl host communities for the past 14 years and has made hundreds of thousands of books and pieces of sports equipment available to underserved children.
Super Kids-Super Sharing gives local students an opportunity to be involved in the excitement of Super Bowl and “recycle” items they no longer need. The program also promotes NFL PLAY 60, the league's youth health and wellness campaign, by sharing sports equipment among children in the community. There is still time for area schools to join in this year's effort.
Participating schools in New York and New Jersey will ask their students to gather up gently used or new books and sports equipment from home and place those items in collection boxes at school. Most school collections will begin in early January. Super Kids-Super Sharing collection events will be held in each state.
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On January 9, 2014, coordinators and several students from each participating New Jersey school will bring donated items to a collection event at Essex County College, 303 University Avenue, Newark.
On January 16, 2014, coordinators and several students from each participating New York school will bring donated items to a collection event at Riverbank State Park, 679 Riverside Drive, Harlem. Donated items from each event will be sorted, then shared with pre-selected schools in New York and New Jersey identified as needing supplies, and with other organizations that work with children in need.
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A new feature this year is the addition of Verizon’s “HopeLine” program to collect used cell phones. Proceeds from the collection will be donated to domestic violence prevention organizations and local shelters. These items will be collected as a part of Super Kids-Super Sharing.
There will be a brief “thank-you” ceremony with representatives from the NFL, NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee, the Jets and the Giants. Participating students will also have an opportunity to enjoy the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee’s “Huddle Shuttle,” an interactive football display that gives kids a chance to test their own football skills. The “Huddle Shuttle” is making at least 48 stops throughout New York and New Jersey over the duration of its tour.
Public and private schools are welcome to take part. NFL provides posters, flyer templates, instructions and other materials to make this project easy to implement. Individual schools may register by emailing the name of their school, address and contact information to NFLenvironment@aol.com. Interested schools should register at their earliest opportunity.
Super Kids-Super Sharing is one of the NFL’s environmental initiatives for Super Bowl XLVIII. The NFL Environmental Program plays an active role behind the scenes at the Super Bowl. In addition to Super Kids-Super Sharing, the NFL Environmental Program ensures that tens of thousands of pounds of unserved prepared food from Super Bowl events are distributed to local shelters and community kitchens. The Environmental Program is also responsible for recycling cardboard and other materials from Super Bowl events and donates everything from decorative banners to building materials to local non-profit agencies. A number of tree planting projects have already been implemented in New York and New Jersey as part of Super Bowl. MetLife Stadium, the site of Super Bowl XLVIII, and several other major NFL Super Bowl event venues will be powered using “green energy” to reduce the climate impact of Super Bowl events.
The NFL Environmental Program is one of a large number of community events and initiatives implemented each year by the NFL and Super Bowl Host Committee to leave a positive legacy in each Super Bowl host community.
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