Before they compete in the 2010 Pro Bowl on Sunday, Jan. 31, some of the NFL’s biggest stars will come together as one team Thursday, Jan. 28, in the largest community program in the league’s history. Following morning practices Pro Bowl players, coaches and Bank of America community volunteers will spend the afternoon working to improve the South Florida community as part of the first-ever “NFL PLAY 60 Community Blitz” in celebration of the Pro Bowl.
During the Blitz, launched in partnership with NFL PLAYERS and league sponsor Bank of America, Pro Bowl players and more than 150 Bank of America associates will take part in three service projects in Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties. The projects are each designed to help local children stay healthy and active as part of NFL PLAY 60, the league’s campaign to fight childhood obesity. Bank of America also will donate $100,000 to PLAY 60 non-profit community partners as part of the program.
The 2010 Pro Bowl will be played on Sunday, January 31 and televised live on ESPN at 7:20 PM ET from Dolphin Stadium in South Florida, also the site of Super Bowl XLIV a week later on Sunday, February 7.
The Broward County event will take place at RISE Academy School of Science and Technology, a free public charter elementary school. Players will be joined by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith and will work with non-profit organization KaBOOM!, RISE students, Bank of America associates and other community volunteers to construct a customized playground at the school, which is currently without a gym or play area.
In Miami-Dade County, players will gather at the NFL Youth Education Town to host an NFL PLAY 60 Football Festival and healthy cooking demonstration. Together, the group will lead local children in football and fitness drills, and host a healthy cooking demonstration with Flipany, a community group that provides affordable physical activity and nutrition programs for local youth. This site will also include a “Super Kids-Super Sharing” sports equipment drive, as part of the league’s environmental initiatives around the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl. In addition, Bank of America will fund a healthy meal pack assembly for school children to benefit the Daily Bread Food Bank.
A third group of players will volunteer in Palm Beach County with NFL Network analyst Jamie Dukes. They will work with non-profit organization Boundless Playgrounds to build an adaptive play-space for physically challenged students at Boca Raton Community Middle School. Throughout the year, students at the school have participated in the NFL PLAY 60 Challenge, an in-school program designed by the American Heart Association to help children stay physically active for 60 minutes a day.
About NFL PLAY 60:
Designed to tackle childhood obesity, NFL PLAY 60 brings together the NFL’s long-standing commitment to health and fitness with partner organizations like the American Heart Association, KaBOOM!, Boundless Playgrounds and Flipany. Since the program was launched in 2007, the NFL has committed $200 million to youth health and fitness through programming, grants, and media time for PSAs. For more information, visit www.NFLRUSH.com/play60
About NFL PLAYERS:
Formed in 1994, NFL PLAYERS is the licensing and marketing subsidiary of the NFL Players Association. Representing more than 1,800 active and many memorable retired NFL players, NFL PLAYERS "takes the helmets off" the players and markets them as personalities as well as professional athletes. Through an exclusive sponsorship agreement between the organization and the NFL, players are integrated into NFL sponsor activation programs. In addition, under an exclusive agreement between NFL PLAYERS and the NFL, NFLPLAYERS.COM, the company's official website, is part of the NFL Internet Network. Each year NFL PLAYERS negotiates and facilitates extensive player marketing opportunities for players. NFL PLAYERS activities include retail licensing, corporate sponsorships and promotions, special events, radio and television projects, publishing and internet. For more information, please visit NFLPLAYERS.COM.
About Bank of America:
Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 53 million consumer and small business relationships with 6,000 retail banking offices, more than 18,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than 29 million active users. Bank of America is among the world's leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to more than 4 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients in more than 150 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. www.bankofamerica.com