Fifteen-year-old Chengo Chewe from Lusaka, Zambia, has turned his life around through the Children International Youth Program. Raised in an extremely volatile community, he lost his father at a young age; few expected him to escape this terrible cycle of poverty and violence. Yet, in 2009, 12-year-old Chengo participated in the United Nations International Youth Day in New York City. Today, Chengo is in high school and plans to study political science in college. His biggest dream? Returning to the United Nations as a diplomat.
Chengo credits Children International for the positive track his life has taken. “I would like to say thank you to Children International for the opportunities they have given me, the opportunities that have opened in my life.”
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/52276-children-international-impoverished-youth-learn-to-give-back
A good fit is easier than ever to find when shopping for a booster seat, new ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show.
A record 31 seats have been designated BEST BETS, meaning they correctly position a vehicle safety belt on a typical 4 to 8 year-old in almost any car, minivan, or SUV. Prices for these top-rated seats range from less than $15 to several hundred dollars.
Only 3 vehicles of more than 100 evaluated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have child restraint installation hardware that earns a good rating for ease of use, while more than half have hardware that is poor or marginal.
The Institute's new LATCH ratings will serve as a resource for families looking for a vehicle that makes it easy to transport their children safely. They also are intended to encourage vehicle manufacturers to pay attention to this equipment and make improvements. Properly installed, age-appropriate child restraints provide considerably more protection for children in crashes than safety belts alone. However, observational studies have found that parents and caregivers often fail to secure them tightly or make other installation mistakes.
LATCH, which stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children, is intended to make it easier to install a child seat properly. It works: Child restraints installed with LATCH, rather than with vehicle safety belts, are more likely to be installed correctly, research has shown. But in many vehicles, LATCH hardware could be better. Parents are more likely to install the seat correctly when the LATCH hardware meets certain key ease-of-use criteria.
Today, more than six thousand pancake lovers from around the globe gathered in Monument Circle in Indianapolis, Indiana for a pancake fundraiser hosted by IHOP Restaurants and Kiwanis International. Thousands of Kiwanis volunteers, in town for their annual convention, and members of general public enjoyed free IHOP pancakes and coffee. Two dozen IHOP cooks prepared the pancakes made from more than 240 gallons IHOP’s famous buttermilk pancake batter, which were accompanied by 189 gallons of maple syrup, 94 pounds of butter and 625 gallons of coffee.
The celebratory event raised funds through voluntary donations to help eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus through the Eliminate Project. It was the first in a series of events planned by IHOP Restaurants as part of its “Summer of Smiles” campaign that celebrates individuals and organizations which have devoted countless hours to making others smile through their philanthropy. The celebration coincides with the family-friendly brand’s launch of a new ‘smiling’ logo and its 57th Anniversary.
To view the Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7428053-ihop-summer-of-smiles-pancake-party/
The ICKEE Stikeez® invasion is here! The squishy, squeezy, sticky, collectible figures known as ICKEE Stikeez from Zing® Toys are now available at select specialty toy stores nationwide.
The first collection of ICKEE Stikeez (#IckeeStikeez) has 24 whimsical, wacky and hilariously disgusting characters. Each of the characters sit on a suction cup that enables the ICKEEZ to stick to any flat surface, such as lockers, lunchboxes, windows and cell phones. When pulled-off, the ICKEEZ make a cool, loud “pop”! Characters come in PODZ that are reminiscent of vending machine capsules, which also have built-in play. Kids can connect them to create various structures and environments for their ICKEE Stikeez characters.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/52105-ickee-stickeez-zing-toys-innovation-play-holiday-collectible-suction-cup
A new national survey released today shows large percentages of science teachers and parents strongly agree that demonstrating real-life applications in science (87 percent and 72 percent, respectively) can help make science education more interesting for U.S. students. Almost all science teachers (99 percent) and nine in ten parents (90 percent) feel that science education is important, if not very important for a child’s future, but that it needs to be more engaging to capture the attention of children in America today (97 percent and 96 percent, respectively). The survey, conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of iBIO Institute and Astellas Pharma US, Inc. (“Astellas”) included a sample of 235 science teachers and 300 parents with school-age children in kindergarten through 12th grade.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/astellas/46023/
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization that produces Sesame Street, and IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced a collaboration to use IBM Watson’s cognitive computing technology and Sesame’s early childhood expertise to help advance preschool education around the world.
As part of a three-year agreement, Sesame Workshop and IBM will collaborate to develop educational platforms and products that will be designed to adapt to the learning preferences and aptitude levels of individual preschoolers. Research shows that a significant extent of brain development occurs in the first five years of a child’s life1, making this window critical for learning and development.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7724251-sesame-workshop-ibm-watson-early-childhood-education/
Concerns about the cost of a divorce weigh heavily on the minds of people facing a divorce, including whether or not to hire an attorney, and in the decision of who to hire, according to a new Avvo Divorce Study*. Fifty-eight percent of individuals without children cite cost as their top concern going into the divorce ahead of concerns about property division (42 percent), time the divorce will take (27 percent) or alimony (22 percent). For individuals with children, cost is second to custody concerns (53 percent vs. 35 percent), but it remained the top factor cited as to why they ultimately chose to hire their specific attorney.
To view the Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/61093-avvo-divorce-study-top-concern-cost
What Could Be Better Than Living In a Fairy Tale World?
“Imagine the sweetest and most delectable fairy tale book illustrated with pages
and pages of magnificent cakes, complete with characters composed and comprised
of delicate details like fairy wings, all manner of flowers, dragons and mermaids and so much more.
Not illustrations of cakes, but pictures of nearly eighty “sugar sculptures,”
as author and illustrator Crystal Walters described her creations. It sounds incredible,
but it’s one of the most unique concepts for a fairy tale book that you will ever encounter.
John Kelly, Detroit Free Press
I Wish I Were a Fairy Tale http://bit.ly/CakeFairyTale
Media contact: Scott Lorenz, Westwind Book Marketing, scottlorenz@westwindcos.com Children's book
Families will find few surprises – and many bargains – as they shop for classroom supplies to fill children’s backpacks for the upcoming school year, according to the fifth-annual Huntington Backpack Index issued by Huntington Bank (NASDAQ: HBAN; www.huntington.com).
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/huntington/45252/
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service reported earlier this week that more than 50 million Americans, including 17 million children, live in hunger. The 2009 report on Household Food Insecurity in the United States illustrates how the issue of hunger is affecting our country. To raise national awareness among adults about the growing problem of hunger, Feeding America and the Ad Council today announced the launch of a new series of national public service advertisements (PSAs) featuring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and other actors, designed to motivate Americans to get involved in the fight against hunger.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/adcouncil/47168/
