Month: April 2023

In celebration of Earth Month and MLS WORKS Annual Greener Goals Initiative, AEG’s LA Galaxy organized programming to engage and inspire the local community to take action to protect the planet.

On April 19, 2023, in support of MLS 6th Annual Greener Goals Week of Service, and in partnership with Garden School Foundation, an organization which provides in-depth garden-based education to youth at Title I schools in Los Angeles, LA Galaxy’s Eriq Zavaleta and mascot Cozmo joined volunteers from the LA Galaxy front office, AEG and LA Galaxy fans to revitalize and expand gardens at Annalee Avenue Elementary School in Carson, CA. Volunteers and students participated in a number of refurbishment projects, including building ADA compliant garden beds, removing weeds, laying soil as well as planting flowers, vegetables and fruits.

“It’s so important for the LA Galaxy to give back and support our local communities, not only from literacy to health and well-being but to sustainability and providing access and opportunity to youth,” said Gabriel Osollo, Sr Manager Community Relations, LA Galaxy. “This is reflected in our all-encompassing community programming for Earth Month and Earth Day.”

Earth Month programming included hosting a cleat drive, in partnership with FUTBL.ORG, Garden School Foundation and SA Recycling, on April 22, 2023, during the LA Galaxy’s Earth Day match against Austin FC at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, CA, as well as auctioning off game-worn and player-signed One Planet Kits. Made entirely out of Parley Ocean plastic – a recycled material created from reimagined plastic waste – the hand-drawn One Planet Kit design pays homage to the ocean floor each jersey aims to protect. To learn more about the One Planet Kit, the league-wide initiative to end plastic waste, please click here.

MLS WORKS Greener Goals is an initiative that aims to identify ways to reduce the League’s greenhouse gas footprint and raise awareness about environmental issues throughout the soccer community. MLS WORKS will host the 6th annual Greener Goals Week of Service from April 17-23rd during which MLS club and League office staff will volunteer their time and give back in partnership with local charitable organizations leading up to Earth Day on April 22. To learn more about MLS WORKS Greener Goals, please click here.

New resources created to help parents, caregivers, and educators enhance learning opportunities for children by celebrating their uniqueness, exploring how we’re all connected, and building awareness of community.

NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, has released new resources to help young children get ready for school with help from the grown-ups in their lives. Created with generous support from PNC Foundation’s ongoing early childhood education initiative, PNC Grow Up Great®, the resources help children ages 2-5 build self-awareness and a sense of belonging. These resources are aimed at helping children learn to celebrate themselves, their families, and others.

The caring adults in children’s lives can help them thrive in school and life by inviting them to celebrate who they are, helping them get to know others who are both like and different from them, and building their sense of connection with others, including their classroom community. The collaboration between caregivers and providers in a child’s life during the most crucial years sets the stage for a successful transition to kindergarten.

These new bilingual videos, activity guide, and printable worksheets feature friends Elmo, Rosita, Julia, Wes, and their families as they celebrate themselves and each other:

“Wonderful in You,” a new original song with Elmo and his dad Louie, Rosita and her mom Rosa, and Wes and his dad Elijah. This video focuses on adult-child bonds and celebrates the special pride parents and caregivers have for their children.In the “Remembering Our Time Together” video, Julia’s and Rosita’s families remember the good feelings that memories with family can bring.Documentary videos featuring two preschool teachers presenting insights and strategies for things such as a peaceful, collaborative, and cooperative classroom community.A free professional development course, Building a Connected Community, offers family-friendly strategies providers can use to prepare children for school, life, and ways to engage with everyone in their neighborhood.Dream Big! — An activity book distributed for free through PNC Bank branches, volunteer, and community-based events, also available digitally at sesame.org/readyforschool, plus printable activity pages to help children celebrate themselves and prepare for life.

“Sesame Workshop has always been dedicated to helping children grow smarter, stronger, and kinder in all aspects of their lives, and we’re proud to have the support of our longtime partner PNC Grow Up Great® as we continue our efforts together,” said Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, Senior Vice President of U.S. Social Impact, Sesame Workshop. “These past few years, especially with the impact of the pandemic, have presented unprecedented challenges for children everywhere, and we are here to help increase their sense of belonging, create a rich and nurturing classroom community, and strengthen the home-school connection.”

The new resources, which are free and available in English and Spanish, can be found at sesame.org/readyforschool. Additionally, they are being distributed through the Sesame Street in Communities program, an initiative for community providers who serve families and help children face challenges big and small. Teachers, healthcare professionals, social workers — any providers working with families and children — are invited to use and share Sesame Workshop’s large and growing library of bilingual resources and professional development tools, created to support them in their vital work.

“These resources build on a terrific 19 years of partnership between Sesame Workshop and PNC Foundation,” said Sally McCrady, president and chair of The PNC Foundation. “One of my favorite things about the resources we’ve created together is how they remind parents and caregivers of all the things we can do in our everyday moments. These new resources celebrate children, families, and the joy of simply talking and connecting with each other.”

About PNC Foundation 
The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group (www.pnc.com), actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, which includes the arts and culture. Through PNC Grow Up Great®, its signature cause that began in 2004, PNC has created a bilingual $500 million, multi-year initiative to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life. For more information, visit http://www.pncgrowupgreat.com.

About Sesame Workshop 
Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, the pioneering television show that has been reaching and teaching children since 1969. Today, Sesame Workshop is an innovative force for change, with a mission to help kids everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. We’re present in more than 150 countries, serving vulnerable children through a wide range of media, formal education, and philanthropically funded social impact programs, each grounded in rigorous research and tailored to the needs and cultures of the communities we serve. Learn more at www.sesameworkshop.org and follow Sesame Workshop on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok.

Contact 
Laura Rigby 
Laura.rigby@sesame.org

LINCOLN, Neb., April 25, 2023 /3BL Media/ – For the second year in a row, Clayton, a national builder of attainable housing, is partnering with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant over 1 million trees in strategic reforestation projects that span 11 states. This year’s projects will bring the partnership’s total to over 3.3 million trees planted since inception, with a long-term goal of planting over 4.4 million trees by the end of 2025.

Projects supported through the partnership will utilize sustainable forestry practices on a variety of nature preserves, private lands, and State and National Forests in Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. As they grow, these trees will help enhance area biodiversity, increase wildlife habitat, and improve air and water quality throughout the impacted regions.

“It’s inspiring getting to work alongside an organization like Clayton who shares in our dedication and passion for building a greener, more sustainable world,” said Dan Lambe, Chief Executive Officer of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Trees are essential to the health and prosperity of these ecosystems, and we are thrilled to continue partnering with Clayton to help ensure the people, plants, and animals who call them home have a chance to thrive.”

For the past 50 years, the Arbor Day Foundation has worked to plant nearly 500 million trees in forests and communities around the world. Through a global network of partnerships, the Foundation facilitates projects that empower organizations of all sizes to reach their sustainability goals via measurable, impactful work through trees and forests. The Foundation recently announced an initiative to plant 500 million trees over the next 5 years in the forests and communities that need them most.

“Clayton and the Arbor Day Foundation are aligned in our commitment to improve lives and build a better tomorrow,” said CEO Kevin Clayton. “We are proud to play a role in replenishing critical ecosystems that support our families and communities.”

This partnership is an expansion of Clayton’s existing national sustainability efforts, which include improving the energy efficiency of its home building and supply operations, setting ongoing reduction targets for waste and water and increasing its reliance on renewable energy. All 52 of Clayton’s home building and supply facilities maintain ISO 14001 certification, the gold standard of environmental management systems. Last year alone, Clayton diverted over 100 million pounds of waste from landfills through recycling efforts at these facilities.

To learn more about the Clayton and Arbor Day Foundation partnership, click here.

About Clayton

Founded in 1956, Clayton is committed to opening doors to a better life and building happyness® through homeownership. As a diverse builder committed to quality and durability, Clayton offers traditional site-built homes and off-site built housing – including modular homes, manufactured homes, CrossMod® homes, tiny homes, college dormitories, military barracks and apartments. In 2022, Clayton built 62,620 homes across the country. Clayton is a Berkshire Hathaway company. For more information, visit claytonhomes.com.

*CrossMod is a trademark of the Manufactured Housing Institute

*Based on one tree planted by the Arbor Day Foundation for every estimated tree used in Clayton’s home building process in the previous year, assuming estimated board feet used at 754 board feet per tree and average footage of Clayton’s homes built by type. Arbor Day Foundation is a registered service mark of Arbor Day Foundation Corporation.

About the Arbor Day Foundation

Founded in 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation is the world’s largest membership nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees. With a focus in communities and forests of greatest need, the Foundation — alongside its more than 1 million members, supporters and valued partners — has helped to plant nearly 500 million trees in more than 50 countries. Guided by its mission to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees, the Arbor Day Foundation is committed to unlocking the power of trees to help solve critical issues facing people and the planet. Learn more about the impact of the Arbor Day Foundation at arborday.org.

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