Red Nose Day and Global Citizen Join 15th Annual Comcast Cares Day to ‘Make Change Happen’
PHILADELPHIA, PA., April 28, 2016 /3BL Media/ – We are proud to announce that Comcast Cares Day, the nation’s largest single-day corporate volunteer effort and a culmination of Comcast NBCUniversal’s year-round commitment to community service, is incorporating the broad support and amplification of two other Company partnerships: Global Citizen and Red Nose Day, organizations aiming to end extreme poverty globally and in the United States. Global Citizen and Red Nose Day use the universal language of music and entertainment as a vehicle to engage people around the world to make a difference. By amplifying our support of these initiatives on Comcast Cares Day, Comcast NBCUniversal, including NBC and MSNBC, is providing additional ways to help drive positive change in our communities.
This Saturday, April 30, volunteers will contribute their time and energy to improve nearly 900 project sites around the world as part of the 15th annual Comcast Cares Day. More than 100,000 employees, their family and friends, and local non-profit partners will make change happen by giving back to their communities. Through Comcast Cares Day, volunteers to date have contributed more than 4 million service hours to improve 6,800 community projects. The Comcast Foundation has contributed more than $18 million to participating local non-profit organizations since Comcast Cares Day started in 2001.
“This year marks the 15th anniversary of Comcast Cares Day. I am very proud that Comcast Cares Day has grown to attract more than 100,000 volunteers around the globe,” said Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO, Comcast Corporation. “Each year, I look forward to working alongside my Comcast NBCUniversal colleagues and their families and friends, and I thank them for their time in helping to improve our communities and neighborhoods.”
“Comcast Cares Day is a true celebration of our company’s commitment to our communities, bringing together our employees, their families, friends and community partners around the world to make change happen," said David L. Cohen, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Comcast Corporation. “This Comcast Cares Day, I am thrilled that we are folding in companywide support and amplification of two incredible company partnerships, Global Citizen and Red Nose Day. We are always looking for ways to do more at Comcast NBCUniversal and these initiatives will help to further drive positive change in our communities.”
During this year’s Comcast Cares Day, volunteers will serve at sites across the country and worldwide with NBCUniversal managing projects in 18 additional countries and Puerto Rico, including Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Projects planned for this Saturday include revitalizing neglected neighborhood parks, beautifying schools, stocking community food banks, planting trees, refreshing playgrounds, installing computer labs at community centers, and much more.
Comcast NBCUniversal will partner with many non-profit community organizations and local chapters of the National Council of La Raza and the National Urban League, who will be working side-by-side with Comcast Cares Day volunteers on Saturday. Additionally, employees from Comcast NBCUniversal will be partnering with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, City Year, and Easter Seals, along with hundreds of other local community organizations.
Below is a sampling of the nearly 900 projects taking place as part of Comcast Cares Day:
- Chicago, Ill. (Marquette Park) – Approximately 300 volunteers, including those from PODER Learning Center, an NCLR affiliate, will help paint, clean-up and landscape this 300-acre park and its facilities that serve many low income families throughout the Chicago Lawn neighborhood.
- New York, N.Y. (P.S./M.S. 149 Sojourner Truth Middle School) – Approximately 300 volunteers, including local City Year New York corps members, will paint murals, clean out underutilized classrooms to create additional learning space, and assemble healthy eating kits.
- Philadelphia, Pa. (Bridesburg Boys & Girls Club) – Approximately 200 volunteers will clean, paint and make repairs inside the Club and remove litter and landscape the property surrounding the Club. Additionally, volunteers will work alongside Rebuilding Together Philadelphia and Scripps Networks Interactive to create a one-of-a-kind arts and crafts room.
- Detroit, Mich. (Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries) – Approximately 150 volunteers will create enhanced living spaces in both the teen and women’s shelters, including installing computer labs, constructing playground equipment, interior painting, and boxing and distributing food to the hungry.
- Los Angeles, Calif. (Toluca Lake Elementary) – Approximately 700 volunteers along with City Year Los Angeles will create an exciting learning environment for students by painting murals and blacktop games, and improving areas throughout the campus.
- Houston, Texas (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Foundation of America Camp Hope) – Approximately 300 volunteers will landscape a portion of the Camp Hope Campus, update the playground, remodel an onsite family residence, and assist with the construction of rooms in a new multipurpose facility that offers a recovery program for veterans suffering from PTSD.
- Bayamón, Puerto Rico ("Re-build" house with Habitat for Humanity) – Approximately 40 volunteers will help rebuild a house for families that are victims of domestic abuse by painting the exterior and interior of the house and planting a garden. Comcast is also donating the materials for the wiring and electrical of the interior of the home.
A few weeks after Comcast Cares Day, Red Nose Day will take place on May 26, aiming to raise awareness and money for children and young people most in need, in the U.S. and around the world. The campaign brings people together to have fun and make a difference through a combination of grassroots and workplace fundraising, social media challenges and retail cause marketing, and uses the signature Red Nose as a fun way to raise awareness and funds for the cause. It all culminates with a celebrity-packed two-hour primetime television special on NBC on May 26 at 9 p.m. ET., combining great entertainment and compelling content to raise awareness and life-changing funds to help lift kids out of poverty. Money raised in 2016 will support programs in all 50 states and around the world that ensure kids in need are safe, healthy and educated. Comcast will also create a unique Video On Demand collection for Xfinity customers that will include segments from several celebrities and additional content.
The momentum continues throughout the summer culminating in the 5th annual Global Citizen Festival in September. MSNBC and Global Citizen will focus on empowering everyday citizens to use their voices to combat extreme poverty. Activating the public through a series of “actions” tied to domestic and global policies and government commitments, the campaign aggregates the voices of globally-minded people to influence world leaders and decision-makers on issues of world poverty. On September 24th, MSNBC will air the Global Citizen Festival where more than 60,000 people who have earned their entry through taking action, come together with world-class artists, thought leaders, and influencers to champion the fight against poverty. Comcast will also create a unique Video On Demand collection for Xfinity customers that will include behind-the-scenes access to the Festival and exclusive content.
Comcast NBCUniversal supports the communities we serve by volunteering, providing access to innovative technology, giving financial support and partnering with organizations to make communities stronger. Comcast primarily invests in programs and nonprofits that address digital literacy, youth leadership development and community service. Since 2001, Comcast’s overall giving has exceeded $4 billion in cash and in-kind contributions to support nonprofit organizations and other charitable partners across the country.
About the Comcast Foundation
The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation has three community investment priorities—promoting service, expanding digital literacy, and building tomorrow’s leaders. Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated more than $176 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/community.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses. NBCUniversal operates news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
About Global Citizen
Global Citizen works in partnership with and supports some of the most effective organizations working to end extreme poverty. Committed to providing the most interesting stories, effective actions and powerful campaigns, Global Citizen aims to unlock the power of every individual to play his or her part in the movement to end extreme poverty in the next 15 years. Global Citizen believes that when an organized, critical mass of individuals in society aspire to the values of Global Citizen, and when they are equipped to take meaningful action, we can change the policies and practices that contribute to keeping people in extreme poverty.
About Red Nose Day
Red Nose Day (rednoseday.org) is a fundraising campaign run by the non-profit organization Comic Relief Inc. (comicrelief.org), a registered 501(c)(3) public charity. Red Nose Day has raised over $1 billion globally in the last 25 years, and in the UK has become a cultural phenomenon where people across the country come together to have fun, raise money and change lives. Red Nose Day launched in the U.S. in 2015, dedicated to raising money to help children who are most in need, both in the U.S. and in some of the poorest communities in the world. Last year it benefited children and young people in all 50 states and in 15 countries internationally.
Red Nose Day returns this year on Thursday May 26, 2016. The day's events will culminate in a two-hour live primetime TV special on NBC at 9 p.m. ET, featuring the biggest stars across comedy, music, TV and film. Funds raised go to the Red Nose Day Fund which distributes the money through programs to keep children and young people safe, healthy and educated. Comic Relief, Inc. in the US and Comic Relief UK are independent sister organizations that are joined by their shared vision of a just world, free from poverty and the mission to drive positive change through the power of entertainment.
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