NFL Players Support Target for School Education
The George Peabody Elementary School community, along with Target Corporation, The Heart of America Foundation, and the NFL Players Association, will celebrate the school’s newly renovated library on Feb. 2 — just in time for Super Bowl XLV.
As part of the national Target School Library Makeover program and the NFL Players Association Day of Service, hundreds of volunteers and several current and former NFL players including, Dez Bryant, Chris Gronkowski, Dan Gronkowski, Rob Gronkowski, Chris Draft, John Booty, Nolan Harrison III, Ken Harvey, Dennis Ransom and Scott Turner are expected to be on-hand to put the finishing touches on the new space.
[ Also Read: Kids Must Read to Succeed and Lead ]The redesigned library will feature a larger space, 2,000 new books, eco-friendly design elements and a complete technology upgrade. Each student will also receive seven books to take home as part of the event, along with another seven books for each of his or her siblings.
This program is part of Target’s commitment to education and plans to donate more than $500 million by the end of 2015 to education, with a focus on helping U.S. children read proficiently.
[ Also Read: Target to Give $1 Billion in Support of Education ]Similarly, in an online effort to put new books in the hands of poor children around the world, supporters of Children International helped Visa donate $50,000 towards the purchase of books for impoverished children. (Read: Visa Supports the Click for a Cause Program)
[ Also Read: Kids-only New Social Network for Tweens ]“Reading is incredibly important to the future success of a child. This library will help to transform the way we teach — providing us with the resources to instill a love of learning and reading in our students,” said Dee Anne Egan, principal of George Peabody Elementary.
“Thanks to Target, The Heart of America Foundation and the NFL Players Association, we now have an inspiring place to explore books together.”
[ Also Read: What Companies Do for Kids’ Education ]In addition to the library makeover, Target will support George Peabody Elementary School and the Dallas Independent School District in two other ways. The first involves a donation of $150,000 to the school district’s Partners in Reading program.
[ Also Read: Knowledge Stories for Children ]The second involves a grant to the North Texas Food Bank, a Feeding America affiliate, to implement a monthly school-based food pantry site, Meals for Minds.
This site will give students and families of George Peabody Elementary the opportunity to choose from a variety of staples and fresh produce to take home. Target currently supports Meals for Minds sites in 49 schools in 13 cities across the U.S.
It plans to announce the remainder of its 2011 Target School Library Makeover recipients later this spring.
