MUMBAI: This is an effort on the part of US kids brand Nickelodeon to take its pro social initiative Let‘s Just Play to the next level. The broadcaster has announced plans to rollout the 2005-2006 “Let‘s Just Play” Giveaway Programme, where the network will distribute more than $1 million from September 2005 to June 2006. The “Let‘s Just Play” Giveaway offers kids around America the opportunity to take action and enter for a chance to win $5,000 to improve their school or community program‘s fitness resources.
 
The initiative is part of the network‘s three-year pro-social “Let‘s Just Play” campaign, which encourages healthy and active lifestyles for kids and families. Joining in Nickelodeon‘s commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles for kids is Kellogg, which has signed on as the first of 10 monthly partners for the “Let‘s Just Play” Giveaway campaign.

For 10 months, Nickelodeon will award a minimum of 20 winners per month with $5,000 each to help facilitate play in their community. The “Let‘s Just Play” Giveaway will be promoted on-air beginning on 6 August 2005 with “call for entries” spots, driving kids to download entry forms on www.nick.com. To enter, kids, partnering with teachers and other community-based leaders, must tell Nickelodeon what they need for their school or club to help them play better and why, and give three reasons why play is important.

Once the entry form has been completed and mailed to Nickelodeon, the winners will be randomly selected and announced via Nickelodeon Online at the top of each month, beginning in September.

Nickelodeon Public Affairs executive VP Marva Smalls says, “In our first year of the Giveaway, it was undeniably clear that communities are challenged for resources that can connect kids with active, healthy play. The ‘Let‘s Just Play‘ Giveaway is designed to empower kids to be catalysts for play in their communities by directly connecting them to a funding mechanism.” As a partner of the “Let‘s Just Play” Giveaway, Kellogg will match a Nickelodeon grant of $100,000 for September, enabling the network to award funding to 40 winners that month. Kellogg‘s branding will be tagged in the on-air “call for entries” spots and highlighted on the “Let‘s Just Play” micro-site on Nick.com throughout the month of August.

The partnership is part of the network‘s efforts to bring corporate partners on-board for the “Let‘s Just
Play” Giveaway in order to increase the total funds distributed to $2 million.

To commemorate the “Let‘s Just Play” Giveaway winners and as part of the overall campaign, on 1 October, Nickelodeon will celebrate the second annual Worldwide Day of Play and “go dark” for three hours. The network will pre-empt regularly scheduled programming with full-screen images including messages encouraging kids to be active and to engage in physical play and the Worldwide Day of Play logo. As part of the “Let‘s Just Play” Giveaway, kids are encouraged to participate in the Worldwide Day of Play. Nick sates that the first-ever Worldwide Day of Play, held as part of the 2004 “Let‘s Just Play” programme, resulted in 1800 grassroots events and participation from more than 250,000 kids and families.

During last year‘s “Let‘s Just Play” Grants Program, which was designed to help foster healthy and active
lifestyles within local communities, Nickelodeon awarded a total of $600,000 dollars in grants to more than 80 schools and other organisations across the US. More than 1,800 grant applications were received from every state in the country for the 2004-2005 “Let‘s Just Play” Grants Programme, expressing more than $9 million in need. Ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 each, the grants were given to applicants who demonstrated a comprehensive plan for encouraging play in their area. The funds are being used for a range of different things like implementing PE programming or providing necessities like athletic equipment.