KICKOFF EVENTS
To gear up for the upcoming 2012 season, the NFL and United Way liveunited.org have teamed to present Back to Football promotions to fans, communities and schools. With the Back to Football initiative, classes, schools and fans across the country will have the opportunity to show their pride in the NFL and promote our efforts to end childhood obesity. Thirty-four winning schools will be named NFL PLAY 60 Super Schools, receive an NFL team celebration and a $10,000 NFL PLAY 60 health and wellness grant. For more information or to enter the NFL PLAY 60 Super School contest, please visit www.nflrush.com/backtofootball. All teachers, school administrators, faculty and PTO/PTA leaders are eligible to enter. Fans will also have the opportunity to show their team-pride through a unique, social media platform. Fans will be able to download team-customized cover and profile pictures via Facebook and earn points for their favorite NFL club. The team that earns the most points by Friday, September 7th will be awarded an NFL PLAY 60-United Way community refurbishment project. All fans who participate will also have the chance to win a trip for two to Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans. The Back to Football fan app launches August 20th.
NFL DRAFT
As part of its 2012 NFL Draft outreach, the NFL invited a record 26 draft eligible players to participate in two New York City youth outreach events during Draft week in April. To continue its fight against childhood obesity and the promotion of an active and healthy generation, draftees, former and current NFL players and NFL staff hosted a two-day NFL PLAY 60 Youth Football Festival at Chelsea Waterside Park. Kids ran flag football drills directed by USA Football and had the opportunity to interact with some the NFL's brightest future stars.
Following the Youth Football Festival, draftees spent their morning at Mt. Sinai Children's Hospital. Draftees played games, created arts and crafts, and even got a chance to interact with patients via live broadcast from the center's in-house television studio. The event, which has become an annual visit for draftees on their draft week tour of New York City, aims to empower youth and their valiant fight against life threatening illnesses.
SUPER BOWL
The Super Bowl may last just four hours, but its legacy lasts forever in the host city. Throughout the week preceding the game, the NFL stages multiple events and activities to enliven, enrich, and assist the Super Bowl host community. As community outreach is an important element of the Super Bowl experience, the NFL's goal is to take a leadership role and encourage others to join it in public service.
The NFL Experience is just one example of the NFL's commitment to the host city's community. Proceeds from ticket sales at NFLX, an interactive NFL theme park and the largest Super Bowl-related event, are donated to the Youth Education Town (YET) program which serves children in the Super Bowl host city.
For almost 20 years, the NFL has been building YETs in Super Bowl host communities. YETs duly serve as education enrichment centers and legacies in the host cities of each Super Bowl. They are launched with a $1 million Super Bowl Legacy Grant from NFL Charities that is matched by the Super Bowl Host community. For more information on the YET initiative, please visit www.nflcharities.org.
As a part of the NFL PLAY 60 campaign, the NFL and Quaker present the NFL PLAY 60 Super Bowl Contest, which annually names its 'NFL PLAY 60 Super Kid' prize. This lucky winner has the opportunity to be on-field prior to the Super Bowl and hands the game ball off to the NFL Official prior to kickoff. The NFL PLAY 60 Challenge is also extended to the Super Bowl market and allows thousands of local youth to participate in an NFL program that offers healthy lessons and a chance to win great Super Bowl prizes. Participants get to attend Kids' Day at the NFL Experience and one class wins a visit by NFL players to help promote living a healthy and active lifestyle. For more information or to enter NFL PLAY 60 contests please visit www.nflrush.com.
Through events like Kids' Day at the NFL Experience, the NFL Alumni Super Bowl Youth Clinic and the Super Bowl Cheerleading Spirit Clinic, the NFL provides lessons on the fundamentals of football to thousands of children from local schools and community agencies, motivational speeches, and the opportunity to collect autographs from current and former NFL players. Other Super Bowl community events include major home refurbishment projects with Rebuilding Together and Habitat for Humanity the annual "Taste of the NFL" which benefits hunger-relief affiliates and America's Second Harvest programs, NFL Charities Super Bowl Golf Classics and events with the Make a Wish Foundation.
PRO BOWL OUTREACH
The Pro Bowl, the NFL's All-Star Game played in Honolulu since 1980, is an event where the league's best players have the opportunity to showcase their talents against their contemporaries. As with the Super Bowl, the NFL strives to leave a positive mark with the Hawaiian community during Pro Bowl week.
In celebration of the 2012 Pro Bowl, the NFL hosted a series of community events throughout Oahu in the days leading up to the game. From tree plantings to the third annual "NFL PLAY 60 Community Blitz," the events enable the NFL and its players to give back to the Oahu community and thank them for sharing the spirit of Aloha.
The NFL Charities Board of Directors allocates funding every year to Hawaiian nonprofit organizations for presentation at the game. The selected organizations must be focused on youth programs, education, and physical fitness. NFL Charities Pro Bowl grants total $100,000 annually.
In addition, the NFL conducts a series of community outreach programs during Pro Bowl week, including NFL PLAY 60 Community Blitz. Pro Bowl players come together on a single day to leave a permanent legacy in the Pro Bowl host community through various projects. In honor of the 2012 Pro Bowl, these projects included building a playground at Ke Kula 'o Samuel M. Kamakau Laboratory Public Charter School, which was conducted in partnership with KaBOOM!, a Punt, Pass & Kick clinic with athletes from the Special Olympics of Hawaii and NFL PLAY 60 youth football clinics with military families at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and surrounding military installations.