UNICEF Kid Power Gives 4,300 Students in Indianapolis the Power to Get Active and Save Lives This Spring

INDIANAPOLIS (April 5, 2016) – The NCAA honored UNICEF Kid Power on-court during today’s Division I women’s basketball national championship game, presenting a plaque to U.S. Fund for UNICEF President and CEO Caryl Stern and Managing Director of Sports and Kid Power Partnerships, Matt Meyersohn. The recognition celebrates the innovative, technology-based school-based program that empowered more than 4,300 Indianapolis elementary school students to get active and save lives along with 70, 000 other students across the country this spring.

UNICEF Kid Power gives kids the power to save lives. As Indianapolis kids get active in school with their classmates as part of their curriculum, after school and over the weekend using the UNICEF Kid Power Band – the world’s first Wearable-for-Good™ – they earn Kid Power Points that unlock therapeutic food packets for severely malnourished children around the world. The more kids move, the more points they earn and the more lives they save.

Indianapolis kicked-off its 30-day “UNICEF Kid Power Month” on February 22. The Kid Power Month challenge allows students to do their part to make the world a healthier place. While taking steps to end global malnutrition, students will learn about the importance of physical activity and becoming global citizens. Indianapolis students have taken enough steps to walk the length of the Indianapolis Canal Walk more than 29,700 times, unlocking more than 10,500 packets of lifesaving therapeutic food. 

“The UNICEF Kid Power Indianapolis team has made a real impact for their peers around the world, while getting active and having fun at the same time,” said Caryl M. Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. “Having the NCAA cheer on the Indianapolis Kid Power team inspires local kids to continue making a difference throughout Kid Power month and beyond. I am very thankful for the recognition and support from the NCAA– whose student-athletes know first-hand about the importance of getting active – and will share it with the rest of the UNICEF Kid Power team who are working to put children first.”

UNICEF Kid Power is a program of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, and is made possible through the generous support of Presenting Sponsors Star Wars: Force for Change and Target. Kid Power Indianapolis is supported locally by City Sponsor, The Herbert Simon Family Foundation, parents and fans.

Thanks to this funding, participating students from high-need schools will have the opportunity to take part in the UNICEF Kid Power school program, a teacher-led classroom experience that leverages easy-to-use technology and standards-based curriculum to promote fitness and global citizenship. The technology includes UNICEF Kid Power Bands for students and classroom tablets for syncing and tracking progress. The curriculum includes lessons, engagement opportunities and quizzes on malnutrition and global citizenship to keep kids inspired and engaged.

"We are proud to partner with the Indianapolis UNICEF Kid Power team as they continue to engage in service to others and promote health and wellness,” said Anucha Browne, NCAA vice president of women’s basketball championships. “UNICEF Kid Power, which ties daily physical activity goals to the provision of therapeutic food packets for malnourished children around the world, is a wonderful initiative. We are honored that the Women’s Final Four can help this cause while promoting social responsibility through service learning this year.”

Globally, one in four children is malnourished – about 159 million children worldwide – while one in four children in the United States is inactive. Malnutrition is attributable to nearly half of all deaths of children under age five, and 16 million children suffer from the most life-threatening form of malnutrition – severe acute malnutrition – which can require specialized care with therapeutic food packets. The therapeutic food packets unlocked by UNICEF Kid Power contain a specially-designed protein and vitamin-rich peanut paste, which allows children who are severely malnourished to be treated in their communities and has the potential to transform millions of lives of malnourished children around the world.

The growth in the Kid Power school program comes on the heels of the national retail launch of UNICEF Kid Power Bands in November 2015, allowing families everywhere to join the UNICEF Kid Power Team by purchasing a Kid Power Band, available at Target.com and in select Target stores, and downloading the free companion App.* Two Star Wars: Force for Change Bands are also available in “light side” white and “dark side” black.

For more information, visit Schools.UNICEFKidPower.org/Indianapolis or UNICEFKidPower.org.

About UNICEF Kid Power
UNICEF Kid Power gives kids the power to save lives. By getting active with the UNICEF Kid Power Band, kids go on missions to earn points and unlock therapeutic food packets for severely malnourished children around the world. UNICEF Kid Power is a program of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, and is made possible through the generous support of Presenting Sponsors Star Wars: Force for Change and Target, as well as ​​ local supporters, parents and fans. Kid Power is also supported by Founding Partners The George Harrison Fund for UNICEF and Calorie Cloud, in addition to Program Partners Ammunition Group and Design Group Italia. For more information, visit www.unicefkidpower.org.

About UNICEF
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to put children first. UNICEF has helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing health care and immunizations, clean water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF supports UNICEF's work through fundraising, advocacy and education in the United States. Together, we are working toward the day when no children die from preventable causes and every child has a safe and healthy childhood. For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org.

For more information, contact:
Lauren Weybrew, U.S. Fund for UNICEF, lweybrew@unicefusa.org, 212-922-2503

 *For each UNICEF Kid Power Band purchased in US Target stores and target.com between 10.13.2015 and 12.31.2016, Target will donate $10 to United States Fund for UNICEF. The more kids move, the more Kid Power points they earn. Kid Power points are converted to funding by partners, parents and fans. UNICEF uses funding to deliver lifesaving packets of therapeutic food to severely malnourished children. The Kid Power donation/program is not being administered by Target. For more information on the UNICEF Kid Power program, visit www.unicefkidpower.org. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF does not endorse any brand or product. Donation is not tax deductible for guests.