Nickelodeon Announces 'Let's Just Play' Giveaway Winners

Nickelodeon Announces 'Let's Just Play' Giveaway Winners

Twenty Kids Receive $5,000 Each to Facilitate Play in their Communities; Network to Give Away More Than $1 Million through June 2006

NEW YORK, Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Nickelodeon announces the latest round of winners of the "Let's Just Play Giveaway," an effort by the network to distribute more than $1 million in funds to help kids improve their schools' or communities' play facilities. Twenty kids from schools and organizations around the country will receive $5,000 each. The winners will be announced on Nick.com, and some will be featured on Nickelodeon's air. The "Let's Just Play" Giveaway is part of Nickelodeon's "Let's Just Play" pro-social campaign, which encourages healthy and active lifestyles for kids and families.

Every month through June 2006, Nickelodeon will award a minimum of 20 winners with $5,000 each to help facilitate healthy lifestyles in their community. Kids can enter for a chance to win by visiting www.nick.com or www.everythingnick.com. Partnering with teachers and other community-based leaders, kids 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 is completed and mailed to Nickelodeon, the winners will be randomly selected and announced at the top of each month.

The November to December "Let's Just Play Giveaway" winners are* (in alphabetical order by school/organization):

**19 winners listed below -- remaining winner to be determined

-- Bend Elementary School (Red Bluff, CA)
-- Caliente Elementary (Caliente, NV)
-- Cambridge Public School (Cambridge, NE)
-- Church Outreach to Youth, Inc. (North Adams, MA)
-- Community School (Roanoke, VA)
-- Fairview School (Auburn, ME)
-- Foothill Elementary School (Brigham City, UT)
-- Goshen Center School (Goshen, CT)
-- Hanover YMCA (Hanover, PA)
-- Horizons Elementary School (Appleton, WI)
-- Lancaster Central Avenue Elementary (Lancaster, NY)
-- Manatee School of Arts & Science, Inc. (Bradenton, FL)
-- Mint Valley Elementary (Longview, WA)
-- Norris City-Omaha Elementary School (Norris City, IL)
-- Our Lady of Fatima School (Galena Park, TX)
-- The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club (Wilson, NC)
-- Sam Case Elementary (Newport, OR)
-- Simmons Elementary (Aberdeen, SD)
-- Youth on the Edge of Greatness, Inc. (Detroit, MI)

The "Let's Just Play Giveaway" is an extension of last year's "Let's Just Play" grants program, where Nickelodeon awarded more than $600,000 to 81 organizations and schools. A total of $9 million was cited in the 1,800 grant applications received, causing the network to more than double its funding this year.

Nickelodeon's "Let's Just Play" recently entered into a partnership with The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association, to combat the spread of childhood obesity. The three organizations are combining forces on a comprehensive media and public awareness campaign, encouraging young people to engage in healthy and active lifestyles.

About Nickelodeon's "Let's Just Play" Pro-Social Campaign

Currently in its third year, "Let's Just Play" is Nickelodeon's pro-social commitment to encourage kids to participate in active, healthy, and playful lifestyles -- a much needed antidote to reports of the rise in childhood obesity, the concerns about reduction of PE in schools and in after-school programs, and the over-scheduled and sedentary lifestyles of kids today. In addition to using the power of Nickelodeon's air, online sites, magazines, and celebrity support, the channel devotes significant year-round resources to building a grassroots infrastructure that supports physical play opportunities in communities everywhere.

On Oct. 1, Nickelodeon celebrated the second annual "Let's Just Play Worldwide Day of Play" celebration by going dark for three hours (12-3 p.m. ET/PT) to encourage play everywhere. Nick pre-empted regularly scheduled programming with its "Worldwide Day of Play" logo encouraging kids to be active and to engage in physical play.

"Let's Just Play" was recently awarded four Cable Television Public Affairs Association Beacon Awards, which recognize excellence in the public affairs industry. For more information on the "Let's Just Play" program, visit www.everythingnick.com.

About Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon, now in its 26th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 89 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than ten consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

* For individual names of winners, please contact Nickelodeon's press

department.

Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Joanna Roses of Nickelodeon, +1-212-846-7326,
joanna.roses@nick.com

Web site: http://www.nick.com/
http://www.everythingnick.com/

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