FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        Contact: Mory Fontanez, KaBOOM! 202.464.6171 mfontanez@kaboom.org

                                                                                                          Joanna Roses, Nickelodeon

                                                                                                          212.846.7326

KaBOOM! Joins Nickelodeon and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to Mark Worldwide Day of Play by Encouraging Kids to Get Active

Washington, D.C., September 21, 2006 – To celebrate Nickelodeon’s third annual Worldwide Day of Play on September 30, KaBOOM! has joined with the network and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation – a joint initiative between the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association - to encourage kids to go outside and be active.  As part of this year’s events, KaBOOM! will ask kids across the country to go outside on September 30^th and scout out their local playgrounds to include in the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder.  The Playspace Finder, the newest tool on the KaBOOM! web site, is a growing directory of playgrounds across the nation.  A playground checklist and rating form can be downloaded at www.kaboom.org. 

On Worldwide Day of Play, KaBOOM! is asking the real playground experts – kids – to tell everyone about their playgrounds.  Once kids have found, and played at their local playgrounds, they will rate and submit them to KaBOOM! for inclusion in the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder.   “Kids are the original authorities on play,” said Darell Hammond, CEO and Co-Founder of KaBOOM!  “Who better to find and rate playgrounds across the country than the real experts,” he said. 

KaBOOM! and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation recently partnered to mobilize communities and schools to build playgrounds to help provide kids with safe, convenient and enjoyable places to play. “With the growing rate of childhood obesity in our country, it is becoming increasingly important to get our kids outside to play,” said Hammond.  “We are extremely proud of our partnership with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and honored to be a part of this year’s Worldwide Day of Play, as we all work to promote healthy childhoods,” he said. 

Worldwide Day of Play is part of Nickelodeon’s “Let’s Just Play” campaign, the network’s pro-social commitment, with partner the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, to promote active, healthy, and playful lifestyles.  Nickelodeon will celebrate its third annual Worldwide Day of Play by going off the air for three hours (12 noon – 3 p.m.), in order to prompt kids to go outside and be active. Over the past two years, Worldwide Day of Play has motivated more than 500,000 kids to get out and play, and more than 250,000 kids / 860 events nationwide are expected to participate this year. The September 30 Worldwide Day of Play will culminate with the finale of the Let’s Just Play Go Healthy Celebration, once the network returns to its on-air programming. For more information on how to “Go Healthy,” visit www.nick.com/letsjustplay.

About KaBOOM!
Celebrating its 10-year anniversary in 2006, KaBOOM! is a national nonprofit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.  Over the past decade, KaBOOM! has used its innovative community-build model to bring together business and community interests to construct over 1,000 new playgrounds, skateparks, sports fields and ice rinks across North America.  KaBOOM! also

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offers a variety of resources, including a Web portal and online community, regional and national trainings,

grants and publications for communities that wish to plan a new playspace on their own.  Headquartered in

Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago, Atlanta and San Mateo, Calif.   For more information, visit www.kaboom.org or call (202) 659-0215.

About Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon has committed more than $30 million and 10% of its air to its health and wellness campaign.  Nickelodeon is currently in its fourth year of its award-winning pro-social initiative, “Let’s Just Play.”  In November 2005, “Let’s Just Play” entered into a partnership with The Alliance for a Healthier Generation to combat the spread of childhood obesity.  The three organizations combined forces on a comprehensive media and public awareness campaign, encouraging young people to engage in healthy and active lifestyles.  Nickelodeon is using its multimedia platforms and the “Let’s Just Play” campaign, working with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and other partners, to reach millions of young people across the country and spread the message of the Healthier Generation movement.  For more information on Nickelodeon, visit www.Nick.com, www.Nickjr.com or www.teachers.nick.com.

Nickelodeon, now in its 27th 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 90 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for eleven consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B).

About the Alliance for a Healthier Generation

The William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association partnered in May of 2005 to create a new generation of healthy Americans by addressing one of the nation’s leading public health threats –- childhood obesity.  The goal of the Alliance is to stop the nationwide increase in childhood obesity by 2010, and to empower kids nationwide to make healthy lifestyle choices.

The Alliance will positively affect the places that can make a difference to a child’s health: homes; schools; restaurants; doctor’s offices; and the community.

For more information on the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, please visit: www.HealthierGeneration.org. 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        Contact: Mory Fontanez, KaBOOM! 202.464.6171 mfontanez@kaboom.org

KaBOOM! Challenge Grant to Raise $1 Million for Gulf Coast Children; Deadline September 25, 2006

Washington, D.C., September 20, 2006 – KaBOOM! received a $500,000 donation from an anonymous Mississippi donor to help fund Operation Playground, an initiative to rebuild 100 playgrounds in the Gulf Coast by the end of 2007.  There is just one catch, KaBOOM! must match the grant by September 25, 2006.  If the goal is reached, the $500,000 donation would be the largest ever received by the organization from an individual supporter.

To date, KaBOOM! has raised just over $460,000, with only $40,000 needed to meet the challenge before September 25.  To meet this goal, KaBOOM! has been accepting donations from hundreds of individual donors around the country.   Donors have included a group of first graders from Brownie Troop 2475 in Sudbury, Massachusetts who raised $111 through their “Chores for Charities” program, a 5-year old girl and her mother from Gig Harbor, Washington, who generated $112 by setting up a lemonade stand in their community and a Rockville, Maryland 13-year old who raised $15,000 through his Bar Mitzvah.

“We are so close to matching this generous donation,” said Darell Hammond, CEO and Co-Founder of KaBOOM!  “$1 million will help give thousands of Gulf Coast children a great place to play, it is a challenge we are committed to meet,” he said.

Operation Playground is a two-year initiative by KaBOOM! to address the vital need for safe places to play throughout the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  Since the inception of Operation Playground, in December 2005, KaBOOM! has worked with partners including The Home Depot, Motorola, Foresters, AmeriCares, Playworld Systems, The National Basketball Association, Mississippi Orthopaedic Society and 4th Generation Fund to rally thousands of volunteers to build playgrounds in Bay St. Louis, Biloxi, Pass Christian, Jackson, Moss Point, New Orleans and many more Gulf Coast cities.  

To match this grant, KaBOOM! is accepting donations through mail and their website, www.kaboom.org.  In order to make the deadline, all donations must be postmarked by September 25, 2006.

About KaBOOM!
Celebrating its 10-year anniversary in 2006, KaBOOM! is a national nonprofit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.  Over the past decade, KaBOOM! has used its innovative community-build model to bring together business and community interests to construct nearly 1,000 new playgrounds, skateparks, sports fields and ice rinks across North America.  KaBOOM! also offers a variety of resources, including a Web portal and online community, regional and national trainings, grants and publications for communities that wish to plan a new playspace on their own.  Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago, Atlanta and San Mateo, Calif.   For more information, visit www.kaboom.org or call (202) 659-0215.

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Earlier this summer, Nelson's principal, Ava Lee, got word that her school was chosen to be the site of an Operation Playground building project. A two-year initiative of the national nonprofit KaBOOM! to build 100 playgrounds in communities affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Operation Playground is committed to bringing play back to the Gulf Coast.