Sesame Street’s Grover Visits Loraine T. Golbow Elementary to Recognize Walk to School Day Photo Contest Winner
Katy, TX–Safe Kids Worldwide was joined by Sesame Street’s walkaround Grover, Safe Kids Greater Houston and volunteers from FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) on Thursday, January 12th to award $5,000 to Loraine T. Golbow Elementary School in Katy, TX. In October 2011, Safe Kids hosted a photo contest on Facebook for schools that participated in Walk to School Day – an annual day dedicated to raising awareness about pedestrian safety. Schools that held Walk to School Day events were eligible to win a $5,000 prize and a visit from Sesame Street’s walkaround Grover as part of the Safe Kids Walk This Way program. Safe Kids selected 10 finalists from the 70 photo entries submitted across the United States and Facebook fans voted to determine the winning photo.
“Golbow Elementary is overjoyed to be receiving this generous gift from Safe Kids that we will use to upgrade our educational technology devices.” said Ann Smith, Principal of Loraine T. Golbow Elementary. “Not only did we love the opportunity to take part in Walk to School Day this year, but are also very excited that 400 of our 770 students walked to school. The students are ecstatic that Sesame Street’s walkaround Grover will be participating in an assembly at our school to promote pedestrian safety.”
“We are thrilled to congratulate Golbow Elementary School for winning our photo contest,” said Kate Carr, President of Safe Kids Worldwide. “But most importantly, we are pleased to know that more schools are participating in Walk to School Day and teaching students how to remain injury-free as they walk to and from school.”
In 1999, Safe Kids Worldwide and program sponsor FedEx created the Safe Kids Walk This Way Program in the United States to teach safe behaviors to motorists and child pedestrians and to create safer, more walkable communities. Since the program’s inception, over 2.2 million students have joined with nearly 14,000 FedEx volunteers in 5,500 schools for International Walk to School Day—the program’s largest and most widespread activity.
“FedEx has developed highly advanced safe driving practices over the past 35-plus years, but we are committed to doing more. We helped create the Safe Kids Walk This Way program because we are dedicated to improving child pedestrian safety,” said local FedEx volunteer and Senior Safety Specialist Carlos Turcios. “We are very excited to recognize the enthusiasm of the students and faculty at Golbow Elementary and hope that they will continue to walk to school throughout the year.
“Whether they're walking to school or heading down the block, children need to know to look left, right, left, use crosswalks properly, and stay alert to stay safe,” said Constable Buck Stevens, member of Safe Kids Greater Houston. “Safe Kids Greater Houston is looking forward to work with students at Golbow Elementary School to educating students about pedestrian safety and helping to make the community safer for pedestrians."
About Safe Kids Worldwide
Safe Kids Worldwide is a global network of organizations whose mission is to prevent unintentional childhood injury, the leading cause of death and disability to children ages 1 to 14. Twenty-one member countries and more than 600 coalitions and chapters across the U.S. bring together health and safety experts, educators, corporations, foundations, governments and volunteers to educate and protect families. For more information please visit, www.safekids.org.
About FedEx Corp.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues of $41 billion, the company offers integrated business applications through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world's most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 290,000 team members to remain "absolutely, positively" focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. For more information, visit fedex.com.
About Sesame Workshop
In Support of the 2011 Decade of Action Launch, Sesame Street’s Grover serves as a Road Safety Ambassador to help raise awareness and promote safe road practices. Grover has been featured in a number of animated PSAs by demonstrating safe road behaviors such as wearing a helmet or buckling up. For more information, visit sesamestreet.org.
About The Global Decade of Action for Road Safety
Thousands of people are killed or injured in road crashes each day, and it is projected that annual road traffic deaths will increase to 1.9 million people by 2020. To help bring needed attention to this dire issue, the United National General Assembly has declared a Decade of Action to stabilize and ultimately reduce the projected forecast of road traffic deaths and injuries worldwide by 2020. For more information please visit, www.decadeofaction.org.
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