“One little action, it’s a chain reaction”
— Over 350,000 Kids Have Registered and Pledged to Make a Positive Environmental Impact at Disney.com —
BURBANK, CA – August 6, 2009 – “Send it On,” the inspiring anthem for Disney’s “Friends for Change: Project Green,” performed by Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato, will debut FRIDAY, AUGUST 7 on Radio Disney and will be available TUESDAY, AUGUST 11 on iTunes, itunes.com/disneyfriendsforchange, for .99 cents with all proceeds benefitting environmental charities through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund. The “Send it On” music video premieres FRIDAY, AUGUST 14 on Disney Channel, and SATURDAY, AUGUST 15 on Disney.com and the ABC Television Network.
(Click here for images and clips from “Friends for Change,” or visit www.disneychannelmedianet.com. Registration required.)
A half-hour special programming event, “Lights, Camera, Take Action! Backstage with Disney’s Friends for Change,” taking viewers behind the scenes during production of the campaign, will premiere FRIDAY, AUGUST 28 immediately following “Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie” (8:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney Channel.
Twenty-nine Disney stars are featured in the Friends for Change messages on Disney Channel, Disney XD, Radio Disney and Disney.com, inviting young people to join together and make a difference. They are: Moises Arias, Miley Cyrus, Jason Earles, Mitchel Musso and Emily Osment (“Hannah Montana”), Jason Dolley (“Hatching Pete” and the upcoming “Good Luck Charlie”), Nicole Anderson, Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas, Chelsea Staub (“JONAS”), Allisyn Ashley Arm, Doug Brochu, Sterling Knight, Demi Lovato, Brandon Mychal Smith and Tiffany Thornton (“Sonny With A Chance”), Cole Sprouse, Dylan Sprouse, Debby Ryan, Larramie “Doc” Shaw and Brenda Song (“The Suite Life on Deck”), Jake T. Austin, Selena Gomez, David Henrie and Jennifer Stone (“Wizards of Waverly Place”), Hutch Dano, Adam Hicks and Daniel Curtis Lee (of Disney XD’s “Zeke and Luther”).
Over 350,000 kids have registered at www.Disney.com/projectgreen, each pledging to join young people across the country to make small changes in their daily routines, including recycling and reducing energy consumption. If the kids who have already reported back on their progress keep up with their pledges over the next year, a potential 38 million pounds of carbon dioxide will be prevented from polluting the atmosphere – the equivalent of taking 3164 cars off the road every day for a year.
Kids participating in Friends for Change have also made their voices heard in determining how Disney should distribute the first installment of the more than $1 million that will be donated to environmental causes over the next year. As a result of their votes:
- $100,000 will help protect arctic wildlife, including polar bears, from the effects of climate change (to be implemented by Wildlife Conservation Society)
- $50,000 will be contributed to the Children’s Forest in Los Angeles, where kids can help plant new trees (to be implemented by San Bernardino National Forest Association)
- $50,000 will help protect endangered tropical forests in the Philippines (to be implemented by Birdlife International and its partner, Haribon)
- $25,000 will be donated to help end deforestation and introduce fuel efficient stoves to protect local habitats in Rwanda (to be implemented by CHF International)
- $25,000 will go towards helping end the deforestation in Central Mexico’s Oyamel forest (to be implemented by ECOLIFE Foundation)
- $10,000 will help replant trees in wildfire-damaged Florida state forests (to be implemented by Arbor Day Foundation)
Disney’s Friends for Change focuses on a key environmental theme each quarter, beginning with “climate,” which recently concluded. As the program enters the “water” phase, kids are being asked to take simple actions to conserve the precious resource, such as turning off the water while brushing their teeth, and will help decide where to donate the next round of charitable funds. To learn more and get started, visit www.Disney.com/projectgreen.
Disney’s Friends for Change: Project Green is a multiplatform initiative that helps kids help the planet. Through the program, kids can learn practical ways to help the environment, get their friends involved, track their collective impact and have the opportunity to help Disney decide how $1 million in donations to various environmental causes will be made over the course of a year. Kids can join online at www.Disney.com/projectgreen, where they’ll pledge to take simple everyday actions, such as turning off the lights and switching to reusable water bottles, and find out more about why these actions matter.
Disney will direct 100% of the proceeds from “Send it On” to environmental charities through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund (DWCF). More information about DWCF’s efforts for wildlife, wild places and the people linked to their survival, is available at www.disney.com/conservation. DWCF is a Disney initiative to support conservation and animal welfare and is not a US 501(c)(3) public charity.
Disney Channel is a 24-hour kid-driven, family inclusive television network that taps into the world of kids and families through original series and movies. Currently available on basic cable and satellite in over 97 million U.S. homes and to millions of other viewers on Disney Channels around the world, Disney Channel is part of the Disney-ABC Television Group.