STUDENTS LEAD SUPER BOWL EFFORT TO HELP OTHERS
SUPER KIDS-SUPER SHARING RETURNS TO ATLANTA FOR 20TH ANNIVERSARY
DULUTH, Ga. (January 17) – Tens of thousands of books, school supplies, sports equipment and games will be put into the hands of children in the greater Atlanta area thanks to the efforts of local students. Those students have spent recent weeks running collection drives at their schools and gathering new and gently used items to donate. It’s all part of the National Football League’s Super Kids-Super Sharing project, a Super Bowl community service initiative that started in Atlanta in 2000 and returns for its 20th anniversary celebration.
The initial Super Kids pilot program began with three Atlanta schools donating 200 pieces of sports equipment to a local Boys & Girls Club. This year, the National Football League is partnering with more than 100 donating and receiving schools. Joining in the effort are the Atlanta Falcons, the Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee, Verizon and Infinite Energy Center’s Forum.
Hundreds of students from local public and private schools will drop off and help sort the items they’ve collected. Representatives from the Atlanta Falcons, including Falcons Legend Ovie Mughelli, cheerleaders, and team mascot Freddie Falcon will be on hand to greet and thank the students and coordinators. They will be joined by representatives from the NFL, the Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee, Verizon and Gwinnett County. All will take part in a brief ceremony to thank the students.
The Collins Hill Chamber Choir will kick off the ceremony with a performance. Verizon, the NFL’s sustainability partner for Super Bowl, will present an $18-thousand grant to the Ron Clark Academy, an acclaimed non-profit middle school in Southeast Atlanta that serves as a demonstration school for tens of thousands of visiting educators. The grant will fund a peer to peer violence awareness program that tackles issues of bullying.
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Super Kids-Super Sharing, Verizon, the NFL and the Arbor Day Foundation will plant more than 20-thousand trees in Georgia’s Sandhills Wildlife Management Area.
Following the ceremony, the Atlanta Falcons will provide play activities for the students to enjoy.
Registered to participate in Super Kids-Super Sharing are public and private schools from Atlanta, Acworth, Athens, Auburn, Buford, Chamblee, Chatsworth, Clarkston, College Park, Cumming, Decatur, Duluth, Dunwoody, Fayetteville, Forest Park, Gainesville, Hampton, Hapeville, Johns Creek, Kennesaw, Lawrenceville, Lilburn, Lithonia, Loganville, Lovejoy, Marietta, Monroe, Norcross, Rome, Roswell, Savannah, Smyrna, Stone Mountain, Sugar Hill, Suwanee, Tyrone and Winder. Several YMCA branches are also participating.
The collection portion of the Super Kids event begins at 9 a.m. and runs until noon. At 1 p.m. registered schools and organizations that work with local children in need will select items for the children they serve.
The NFL implements the Super Kids – Super Sharing project in each Super Bowl host city. Since its inception in 2000 at Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta, the Super Kids-Super Sharing project has placed hundreds of thousands of books and pieces of sports equipment into the hands of children in Super Bowl host communities.
The Super Kids – Super Sharing project is part of the NFL’s Environmental Program. It teaches children to repurpose items they no longer need and pass them along to others who can benefit. The program also promotes NFL PLAY 60, the league’s youth health and wellness campaign, by sharing sports equipment among children in the community.
NFL Environmental Program
Super Kids-Super Sharing is one of several projects created by the NFL to respond to the environmental impact of Super Bowl events and to leave a positive, “green” legacy in the host communities. Tens of thousands of pounds of unserved prepared food from Super Bowl events will be distributed to local shelters and community kitchens. Solid waste from Super Bowl events will be recycled, and leftover décor and construction materials will be donated to local organizations for reuse and repurposing. More than a dozen urban forestry projects have been developed to help create additional green space, pollinator gardens and community gardens in the Greater Atlanta area. A public E-Waste Recycling Rally, sponsored by Verizon, will divert thousands of pounds of electronic waste from the landfill for responsible recycling. Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the site of Super Bowl LIII, and several other major NFL Super Bowl event venues will be powered using “green energy” to reduce the climate impact of Super Bowl events.
These environmental projects are part of a large number of community events and initiatives implemented each year by the NFL and Super Bowl Host Committee to leave a positive benefit in each Super Bowl host community. Sustainability is one of the Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee’s Legacy 53 program pillars, dedicated to celebrating and elevating Atlanta communities.
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