Sprout®, the first 24-preschool network, announced today that 7-year-old Emma Lock from Tucson, Arizona has been named Sprout’s honorary “Chief Kindness Officer” after winning its Kindest Kid Contest. Emma will receive a family trip for four to Sprout headquarters in Philadelphia, where she will have her own office and duties for the day, and be featured in a Kindness Counts PSA in early 2014. Her story and video can be found on SproutOnline.com/kindness-counts. Sprout will also make a donation in Emma’s name to Baby Buggy, an organization that provides families in need with essential gear, clothing, products and services for kids under 12.
The Kindest Kid Contest is an extension of Sprout’s Kindness Counts initiative, which launched in 2011 and celebrates everyday thoughtful acts while serving as a tool for parents to reinforce kindness and compassion. The contest invited families to submit a photo and short description explaining how their child makes positive everyday contributions to their family, a friend, the community, an animal, or the Earth. Sprout selected four extraordinary finalists, and viewers were asked to vote on sproutonline.com. Sprout committed $1 for each vote received to Baby Buggy. Sprout’s Kindness Counter, which increases one tick with each submission, has recorded more than 675,000 kind acts on SproutOnline.com, with the goal of reaching 1 million.
“Kindness is important every day and all four of these kids, through the impactful things they are doing within their communities, epitomize the mission of Sprout’s Kindness Counts initiative,” said Sandy Wax, president of Sprout. “Emma’s story is so inspiring, and we are proud to name her as Sprout’s first Chief Kindness Officer.”
Emma was four when she found out that her two-year old brother, Chase, had been diagnosed with cancer. She was pulled out of preschool, play dates and dancing so she and her family could travel for Chase’s treatment. While Emma was always there to comfort and play video games with her brother, she also realized that siblings of kids fighting cancer needed to feel special too. She began to send her own toys to kids she knew whose sibling was fighting cancer. Her idea expanded into Lock Boxes of Love — a grassroots, non-profit that sends customized, age and gender-specific toy boxes to siblings of those fighting terminal illness. She has sent Lock Boxes of Love around the U.S. and as far away as Australia. Sprout will donate a variety of its products to Emma’s Lock Boxes of Love initiative.
As Sprout’s Chief Kindness Officer, Emma will have a full day of responsibilities, including:
· Star in a PSA for Kindness Counts
· Receive her own executive office for the day
· Meet with Sprout Executives
· Lunch with the stars of Sprout’s The Sunny Side Up Show
The three other Kindest Kid finalists, all featured on SproutOnline/Kindness-counts, include 5-year-old Otra from San Jose, CA, who donates her time at a local community Adult Daycare Center by reading books, constructing arts & crafts, setting the table or helping out. Seven-year-old Anna from Philadelphia, PA asked friends attending her birthday parties over the last several years to bring donations to various causes in lieu of birthday presents. After noticing a lot of trash in his neighborhood, 7-year-old Mateo from York, PA started Mateo’s Litter Critters, and he holds monthly trash clean-ups with other neighborhood kids. All finalists will receive a special Sprout gift basket and have a donation made in their name to Baby Buggy. Emma and all three finalists also received trips to New York to appear on The Today Show.
In celebration of Emma and the three other finalists, Sprout will make a donation to Baby Buggy, a network of over 50 community based organizations that distributes new and gently used essentials: from cribs and strollers to clothing and bottles, all of which are vetted for safety. Each month, the organizations submit the items they need for the families they serve. Based on available inventory, Baby Buggy attempts to fill these requests, providing approximately 60,000 items each month.
About Sprout®: Sprout is the first 24-hour preschool destination available on TV, on demand and online for children ages 2-5 and their parents and caregivers. Available in nearly 60 million homes with programming structured to follow the day of the child from morning to night, Sprout features original programming, including The Chica Show and Noodle and Doodle, a library of gold standard series, including Caillou and Sesame Street, and U.S. exclusives including Lazytown and Tree Fu Tom. Sprout’s hosted programming blocks, including The Sunny Side Up Show and The Good Night Show, serve as tools to guide parents as they help children prepare for their days and nights with activities, user generated content, stories, and more. Viewers are encouraged to submit artwork, birthday wishes, videos and more through SproutOnline.com, which has received over five million viewer interactions to-date. Sprout’s VOD offering is the #1 on demand service for younger children with over 1.5 billion views. Sprout was fully acquired by NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment in November 2013.
About Baby Buggy: Baby Buggy®, founded by Jessica Seinfeld in 2001, is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing families in need with essential equipment, products, clothing, and services for their infants and children up to age 12. With an extensive network of community-based organizations across the country, Baby Buggy has donated more than 6.5 million items to thousands of children. Baby Buggy is a Better Business Bureau Accredited Charity, passing all 20 BBB Standards for Charity Accountability. For more information, visit www.babybuggy.org or follow on Twitter @LoveRecycled.
SOURCE: NBC Universal
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