MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (January 14) – Tens of thousands of books, school supplies, sports equipment and games will be put into the hands of children in the greater Miami area thanks to the efforts of local students. Those students are currently running collection drives at their schools and gathering new and gently used items to donate. It’s all part of the National Football League’s Super Kids-Super Sharing project, a Super Bowl community service initiative that has been implemented in every Super Bowl host community for the past 21 years.
On Thursday, Jan. 16, The Super Kids event takes place at St. Thomas University in the Fernandez Family Center for Leadership & Wellness located at16401 NW 37 Avenue, Miami Gardens. At 9 a.m. hundreds of students will drop off and help sort the items they’ve collected. Representatives from the Miami Dolphins will be on hand to greet and thank the students and coordinators.
They will be joined by representatives from the NFL, the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee, and NFL sponsor Verizon. St. Thomas University football players, cheerleaders, mascot and members of the Bobcat Marching Band will join in the festivities. At 10 a.m. there will be a brief ceremony to thank the students participating in Super Kids-Super Sharing. The Dillard High School Vocal Jazz Ensemble will kick off the ceremony with a performance. Following the ceremony, participating students will enjoy play activities provided by the Miami-Dolphins.
The National Football League is partnering with more than 100 donating and receiving schools as part of the Huddle for 100 initiative, which is an effort to have people donate their time to total 100 million minutes volunteered in honor of the NFL’s 100th season. Joining in the effort are public and private schools from Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, the Miami Dolphins, the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee, Verizon, and St. Thomas University.
In honor of Super Kids and the NFL’s 100th season NFL sponsor Verizon will plant 10,000 trees (100 trees for each of the NFL’s 100 years) in Florida’s Econfina River State Park. Verizon will also plant 100,000 trees in Madagascar to restore ecologically devastated mangrove estuaries and forests and revive natural habitat for endangered animal species. As part of Super Kids-Super Sharing, Verizon will announce a $100,000 grant to the Education Fund to support a first in the nation initiative that funds food forests for schools in the Miami-Dade region. This innovative model takes STEM learning out of textbooks and classrooms and turns school grounds into “Eco-Labs” that provide hands on learning and dramatically increase student’s science scores.
The collection portion of the Super Kids event begins at 9 a.m. and runs until noon. At 1 p.m. registered schools and organizations that work with local children in need will select items for the children they serve.
Registered to participate in Super Kids-Super Sharing are public and private schools from Coconut Creek, Coral Springs, Cutler Bay, Davie, Deerfield Beach, Doral, Ft. Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach, Hialeah Gardens, Hialeah, Hollywood, Homestead, Key Biscayne, Lauderdale Lakes, Margate, Miami Beach, Miami, North Miami, Miami Gardens, Miramar, North Lauderdale, North Bay Village, Oakland Park, Opa-Locka, Palmetto Bay, Parkland, Pembroke Beach, Pembroke Park, Pembroke Pines, Pinecrest, Plantation, Pompano Beach, Sunrise, Tamarac and Weston.
Since its inception in 2000 at Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta, the Super Kids-Super Sharing project has placed hundreds of thousands of books and pieces of sports equipment into the hands of children in Super Bowl host communities.
The Super Kids – Super Sharing project is part of the NFL’s Environmental Program. It teaches children to repurpose items they no longer need and pass them along to others who can benefit. The program also promotes NFL PLAY 60, the league’s youth health and wellness campaign, by sharing sports equipment among children in the community.
NFL Environmental Program
Super Kids-Super Sharing is one of several projects created by the NFL to respond to the environmental impact of Super Bowl events and to leave a positive, “green” legacy in the host communities. Tens of thousands of pounds of unserved prepared food from Super Bowl events will be distributed to local shelters and community kitchens. Solid waste from Super Bowl events will be recycled, and leftover décor and construction materials will be donated to local organizations for reuse and repurposing. A half dozen community greening projects have been developed to help create additional green space, pollinator gardens and community gardens in the Greater Miami area. A public E-Waste Recycling Rally, sponsored by Verizon, will divert thousands of pounds of electronic waste from the landfill for responsible recycling. Hard Rock Stadium, the site of Super Bowl LIV, and several other major NFL Super Bowl event venues will be powered using “green energy” to reduce the climate impact of Super Bowl events.
These environmental projects are part of a large number of community events and initiatives implemented each year by the NFL and Super Bowl Host Committee to leave a positive benefit in each Super Bowl host community.
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