The American Red Cross Collaborates With SeeMore's Playhouse(TM) to Teach Safety Lessons to Children and Parents Across the Country

The American Red Cross Collaborates With SeeMore's Playhouse(TM) to Teach Safety Lessons to Children and Parents Across the Country

WASHINGTON, June 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Red Cross announces a formal collaboration with the multi-Emmy(R) award-winning public television children's show, SeeMore's Playhouse. Together with Safety4Kids(R) and King Features Syndicate, the producers of SeeMore's Playhouse, they will teach safety lessons through both on-air, and off-air initiatives. The goal is to continue to educate children and families through multi-media and the safety lessons taught by "SeeMore the Safety Seal" and his friends.

To ensure that each show conveys the most appropriate safety message, the Red Cross will provide guidance and supervise scripts based on their esteemed health and safety educational programs as well as their disaster relief experience. "Teaching children from an early age how to protect themselves is an important initiative for the Red Cross. Teaming up with to carry out that goal means that we can reach parents and children in a fun, yet compelling way," says Scott Conner, Vice President, Preparedness and Health and Safety Services. "The Red Cross has been the leader in preparedness and safety education for 126 years. To partner with such a prestigious and respected organization helps keep our commitment to children's safety at the forefront of issues facing all of us today," said Safety4Kids President, Tom Blair.

As part of the collaboration, the Red Cross and Safety4Kids(R) will continually focus on programming which serves to instill early water safety habits in children. To help accomplish this goal Safety4Kids(R) has appointed Red Cross Advisory Council on First Aid, Aquatics, Safety and Preparedness aquatics expert Francesco (Frank) Pia, Ph.D. to its Board of Advisors. Dr. Pia is a school psychologist and renowned expert on aquatic safety. He was also instrumental in production of the 2007 Emmy(R) winning episode of SeeMore's Playhouse entitled "Pool Yourself Together".

SeeMore's Playhouse is a multi-Emmy(R) award-winning, first-of-its-kind preschool national public television series featuring original music, which entertains children while teaching them the vital basics of safety and healthy living. "SeeMore the Safety Seal" and his friends are all destined to become trusted icons of children's safety and wellness.

An all new and exciting season of SeeMore's Playhouse begins in September and will feature special emergency preparedness messages for children and their parents from the newly released Be Red Cross Ready three steps to emergency preparedness planning.

About The American Red Cross

The American Red Cross helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Last year, almost a million volunteers and 35,000 employees helped victims of almost 75,000 disasters; taught lifesaving skills to millions; and helped U.S. service members separated from their families stay connected. Almost 4 million people gave blood through the Red Cross, the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. The American Red Cross is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. An average of 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs. The Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work.

About Safety4Kids(R) (S4K(R))

Safety4Kids is recognized as the first children's media brand focused solely on safety and wellness. S4K has sold over 2 million home videos featuring "SeeMore The Safety Seal" and produces the multi-Emmy(R) award- winning public television show SeeMore's Playhouse, which is distributed by American Public Television. With world-class corporate and alliance partnerships, Safety4Kids is providing children all over the world with the knowledge to make safety a part of their every day lives.

About King Features Syndicate

King Features Syndicate is a member of Hearst Entertainment and Syndication Group, which combines The Hearst Corporation's cable network partnerships, television programming activities, and newspaper syndication and merchandise licensing operations. King Features is the world's premier distributor of comics, columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games, distributing in print and online some 150 features to nearly 5,000 newspapers around the globe. It is one of the largest and most experienced organizations in merchandise licensing and entertainment. Among its most beloved and successful classic characters are "Popeye," "Betty Boop," "Blondie," "Dennis the Menace" and "Flash Gordon." In recent years, the company has diversified and now represents properties such as the trend apparel and accessory brands, "David & Goliath"; the publicly-displayed, life-sized art sculptures "Guitar Mania" and "The Trail of Painted Ponies"; the conscientious-living brand, "Mutts"; and SeeMore's Playhouse the multi-Emmy(R) Award-winning children's safety and wellness series for public television. To learn more, visit http://www.kingfeatures.com/.

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Source: American Red Cross

CONTACT: Pamela King of the American Red Cross, +1-202-303-4436,
kingpam@usa.redcross.org; Maggie Gallant, +1-212-633-0390,
maggie@spotlightcomm.com, Cherice Walker, +1-212-633-0390,
cherice@spotlightcomm.com, both for the American Red Cross

Web site:

http://www.redcross.org/
http://www.kingfeatures.com/

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