{"id":409,"date":"2010-10-22T01:00:28","date_gmt":"2010-10-22T07:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/ranny\/2010\/10\/22\/scholastic-mediaandson-network-announce-winners-of-clifford-the-big-red-dog%c2%ae-be-big-in-your-community-contest-to-support-civic-engagement\/"},"modified":"2010-10-22T17:35:34","modified_gmt":"2010-10-22T23:35:34","slug":"scholastic-mediaandson-network-announce-winners-of-clifford-the-big-red-dog%c2%ae-be-big-in-your-community-contest-to-support-civic-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/ranny\/2010\/scholastic-mediaandson-network-announce-winners-of-clifford-the-big-red-dog%c2%ae-be-big-in-your-community-contest-to-support-civic-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"SCHOLASTIC MEDIA\/HANDSON NETWORK ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF BE BIG IN YOUR COMMUNITY CONTEST TO SUPPORT CIVIC ENGAGEMENT"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BeBig.jpg\"<\/a>Scholastic Media and HandsOn Network, the largest volunteer network in the nation, announced today the winners of its second annual \u201cBE BIG in Your Community Contest,\u201d a signature component of the ongoing Clifford The Big Red Dog\u00ae BE BIG!\u2122 campaign sponsored by American Family Insurance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sixteen-year-old Tucson student Jennifer O\u2019Neal\u2019s BIG idea to create a hospital classroom for young cancer patients at Diamond Children\u2019s at University Medical Center \u2013 has been awarded the $25,000 grand prize grant from the BE BIG Fund.\u00a0 The Arizona student will see her idea come to life with the support of Volunteer Center of Southern Arizona, an affiliate of the HandsOn Network.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The national contest invited participants to submit a BIG idea that demonstrates Clifford\u2019s Big Ideas (Share, Help Others, Be Kind, Be Responsible, Play Fair, Be a Good Friend, Believe in Yourself, Have Respect, Work Together and Be Truthful) for a chance to win a community grant to be used toward implementing the winning proposals. Since its inception, the contest has brought in over 1,500 entries from over 40,000 children, parents, teachers and community leaders ranging in age from 2 to 70.\u00a0<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neal was inspired to apply for a BE BIG grant after her sister was hospitalized at the University Medical Center in Tucson in 2009. During her sister\u2019s stay, O\u2019Neal learned that children face substantial challenges keeping up with their school work while being treated, and falling behind in school is one of many young patients\u2019 chief concerns. With help from two members of Girl Scout Troop 484, Sharon Fass and Lauren Evans, O\u2019Neal developed the idea to create a study room to help reduce young patients\u2019 stress.<\/p>\n

\u201cJennifer and her team drew from personal inspiration to develop a BIG idea that will meet the needs of their community for years to come,\u201d said Deborah Forte, President of Scholastic Media and Executive Vice President of Scholastic Inc. \u201cClifford\u2019s BIG Ideas are inspiring people of all ages to embrace civic engagement; Scholastic is delighted that so many children and families are committing to improve the lives of others in innovative ways, while taking pride in service to their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe BE BIG program continues to inspire and help equip children and families to adopt a tradition of service\u201d said Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light Institute and co-founder, HandsOn Network.\u00a0 \u201cWe are extremely pleased to partner with Scholastic Media in providing a way for a new generation, exemplified by Jennifer and the other award-winners, to make its mark on the world and realize its power to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery great idea has a starting point,\u201d said Lisa Bacus, vice president of marketing for American Family Insurance. \u201cThese incredible ideas started in the hearts and minds of people of all ages and from various walks of life. American Family Insurance is proud to help provide the framework for these ideas to become reality in improving the lives of others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ten additional contest entries have been selected as First Place prize winners; each will be awarded a $2,500 community grant.\u00a0 Nineteen Second Place prize winning ideas \u2013 one from each of American Family Insurance\u2019s 19-state business territory also will receive grants totaling $25,000. The ten First Place prize winners are below.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Will Lourcey, age 7, and his team from Fort Worth, Texas will work with Volunteer Center of Texas to organize local area little league baseball players against hunger in the \u201cHits Against Hunger\u201d project.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Erika Ferguson, age 17, of Northfield, New Jersey will work with United Way of Atlantic County\u2019s Volunteer Center on her BIG Idea for the \u201cACRM Farm Project\u201d to grow and harvest food for the poor.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mackenzie Bearup, age 17, of Alpharetta, Georgia will work with HandsOn Atlanta to expand the reach of her \u201cShelter Libraries\u201d book donation initiative.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lindsay Hyde, age 28, and her team from Miami will work with HandsOn Miami to double the size of the \u201cStrong Women, Strong Girls\u201d volunteer mentor program in her community.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leigh Pruden, age 17 of Houston will work with Volunteer Houston to keep a refugee education initiative thriving through a high school community service program.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Milan Patel, age 15, of Clearwater, Florida will work with HandsOn Tampa to expand the \u201cTeen Music Hospice Program\u201d that plays bedside music for patients in his community.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jenny Chen, age 19, of North Potomac, Maryland will expand her \u201cConnect Through Comics\u201d mentor program into the Washington, D.C. community with DC Cares.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sandy Warrick, age 55, and her kindergarten students in Albuquerque, New Mexico will work with generationOn to support the \u201cKids Babyfood Drive\u201d initiative for a local food bank.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Shelley Sellwood-Davis, age 24, and her team from Lexington, Kentucky, will work with United Way of the Bluegrass Volunteer Center to expand the \u201cBuild-A-Bed\u201d initiative to include 2000 volunteers in more communities.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rohan Chandra, age 15, of Fremont, California will work with generationOn to start his \u201cEarthquake Kits\/Emergency Preparedness\u201d project for seniors in his community.<\/p>\n

Nearly 1,000 entries comprising more than 25,000 community members of all ages were submitted for the 2010 contest. This represented an 82 percent increase in the number of entries over 2009 and more than a 50 percent increase in community members.<\/p>\n

The 11 top-winning BIG Ideas were selected by a panel of judges based on four criteria — feasibility, creativity, sustainability and impact.<\/p>\n

The Clifford BE BIG campaign (scholastic.com\/cliffordbebig) is a fully integrated cause marketing program that invites everyone to take action and raise awareness for how Clifford\u2019s BIG Ideas can make the world a better place.\u00a0 Its mission is to recognize and reward others for their BIG actions, to catalyze change in local communities, and to provide resources for everyone to share BIG ideas. The initiative is sponsored by American Family Insurance, an organization with a long tradition of community sponsorships and involvement, contributing to organizations that improve the quality of life for those in need, particularly children.\u00a0 A complete list of finalists, and profiles about their BIG ideas, can be found at www.scholastic.com\/cliffordbebig<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scholastic Media and HandsOn Network, the largest volunteer network in the nation, announced today the winners of its second annual \u201cBE BIG in Your Community Contest,\u201d a signature component of the ongoing Clifford The Big Red Dog\u00ae BE BIG!\u2122 campaign sponsored by American Family Insurance.\u00a0 Sixteen-year-old Tucson student Jennifer O\u2019Neal\u2019s BIG idea to create a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paSd8M-6B","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/ranny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/ranny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/ranny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/ranny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/ranny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/ranny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/ranny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/ranny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/ranny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}