Freeplay Foundation
Tom Hanks and Kristine Pearson holding a Freeplay windup radio
Kristine Pearson with Tom Hanks, who knows the power of radio

Tackling Energy Poverty

Lifeline Energy Blog / Tom Hanks

All posts tagged by Tom Hanks

Fundraiser of the Month: International Tom Hanks Day

May 4, 2010

International Tom Hanks Day organiser, Kevin Turk

International Tom Hanks Day organiser, Kevin Turk

This year’s International Tom Hanks Day raised $1265! The money raised from the event will go to our Haiti Humanitarian Radio Fund. The project provides wind-up and solar-powered Lifeline radios to children effected by the January 2010 earthquake. Thanks to contributions from donors like Kevin, they will be able to obtain access to basic education and receive ongoing education.

International Tom Hanks Day was founded by Chicago resident Kevin Turk. Kevin started the day by inviting a small group of friends to his house for a Tom Hanks movie marathon. Through word of mouth, the event grew each year.

Inspired by Tom Hank’s commitment to good causes, Kevin decided to make the day a charity event. The fundraiser now takes place Galaway Bay, a bar in Chicago where Kevin sells T-shirts, food and tickets for a raffle to raise money.

Kevin already has big ideas for next year, when the event will move to a larger venue.

“This year was a huge success. People were at the event before the doors even opened and they stayed well beyond the event hours.” say Kevin. “We are busting at the seems in our current venue, so next year we should be moving up to a larger space with a lot more activities. Thanks to Tom Hanks for all the support.”

For more information, please visit the International Tom Hanks Day website. Lifeline Energy would like to thank Kevin Turk – we look forward to the next fundraiser!

Filed under: Fundraising events — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Lifeline Energy @ 10:58 am
The Freeplay Foundation is now known as Lifeline Energy

April 8, 2010

We are delighted to announce that from today our new name is Lifeline Energy.

Operating as Freeplay Foundation has served us well for the past 11 years, however, we feel that our new name better reflects our wider mission to tackle energy poverty head-on for the poorest and most vulnerable.

In addition to including Lifeline radios and Lifelights in projects and programmes, in the near future Lifeline Energy will launch a brand new, revolutionary communications tool that we believe will have a profound impact on education and information access in the developing world. We will send you more news about this soon.

We will continue to focus our research on the impact of dangerous kerosene, firewood and candles, and the harmful effects these have on vulnerable women and children. This better equips us to create clean energy products and to advocate approaches that reduce their use and improve quality of life.

Lifeline Energy remains a 501 (c)(3) registered charity in the USA, a registered charity in the UK and is a Section 18A and 21 non-profit in South Africa. Under our new name, Lifeline Energy will retain all current board members as well as our ambassadors: Academy Award winning actor Tom Hanks in America; noted humanitarian Terry Waite in Europe; Mount Everest and South Pole mountaineer Sibusiso Vilane in Africa.

Please visit our redesigned website and learn more about Lifeline Energy; www.lifelineenergy.org
All email addresses that were formerly @freeplayfoundation.org will now be @lifelineenergy.org.

Filed under: News — Tags: , , , , , , — Lifeline Energy @ 12:24 pm
Call to Action – help us get thousands of Haitian children back to school – NOW

February 3, 2010

Call to Action – help us get thousands of Haitian children back to school – NOW

We are proud to announce an innovative and cost effective programme to get Haitian children quickly back on an educational track following the January earthquake. Reports from Haiti are saying that children could face months or even years without education, making our project all the more important to get rapidly off the ground.

The initiative is a joint venture with leading radio education provider Education Development Center (EDC) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) – both organizations have extensive experience and an outstanding track record of working in Haiti.

The project ensures vulnerable children obtain a solid basic education, via Ministry of Education-supported interactive radio instruction using Lifeline radios. The broadcasts provide lessons in math and Creole as well as vital life skills lessons on topics such as water and hygiene.

In addition, EDC will provide the content and instruction for an early childhood education programme that caregivers and children can follow together. NDI will work with its broad network of Haitian community action committees to identify children, including orphans, whose schools have been destroyed and also distribute our Lifeline radios. Furthermore, broadcasts will be designed to incorporate post-trauma programming and provide psychosocial support to quake survivors.

Immediately after the earthquake, our US ambassador, Mr Tom Hanks kick-started our fundraising campaign. More than 1,000 Freeplay wind-up and solar-powered Lifeline radios have been committed. However, we need to deploy a further 2,000 to successfully implement this project, which will reach up to 100,000 children.

Radio is Haiti’s most popular form of media as electricity rates are low and batteries are expensive and hard to come by, especially in rural areas. Lifeline radios solve the problem of access. Let’s also remember that the radios will help with early warnings for the hurricane season.

The most recent UN reports confirm that all schools in western Port-au-Prince have been destroyed as well as 40% of schools in the southern part of the city – leaving thousands of children without access to education in a country where 47% of the population are illiterate.

“We have identified the most effective placement of our Lifeline radios for the rebuilding effort in Haiti. They’re robustly engineered for large group listening,” said Lifeline Energy CEO Kristine Pearson. “Thousands of children, including those newly orphaned and those who cannot attend formal school, will receive essential lessons even under the most basic of conditions. We cannot allow more time to be lost – education is the key to mitigating poverty in their lifetimes.”

We are ready to launch this project and we need your help to reach our goal. The cost of a delivered Lifeline radio is $65.00/£38.00 however any amount will be appreciated. This equals a few cents per child.

Make your donation by visiting our website:
 http://www.lifelineenergy.org/haitiearthquakefund.html

Filed under: Emergency appeal,News — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Lifeline Energy @ 9:57 am
Tom Hanks Kicks-off Haitian Humanitarian Radio Relief

January 21, 2010

I am delighted to announce that two-time Academy Award winning actor Tom Hanks, and Lifeline Energy ambassador, is kick-starting our Haiti Humanitarian Radio Relief Fund for earthquake survivors in Haiti.

Why radios are needed

Access to information is critical both during an emergency and in reconstruction. Although often overlooked, news and updates from local and international sources is an urgent need, along with water, food, shelter and medical attention. Radio stations are broadcasting and our radios will help aid agencies, the UN and the government get essential information to the population.

The Washington post has written an excellent about the importance of radio information

But what the article fails to cover is how will people be able to listen to the programming? Electricity levels were low to start with and batteries will be difficult to come by and expensive. The most vulnerable groups, including women and children, are in danger of being excluded.

What we can do to help

We have an established track record in humanitarian radio relief having been directly involved in the Balkans conflict, post-genocide Rwanda, the Mozambique floods, in refugee camps in Tanzania and Kenya, and the Asian tsunami. Lifeline Energy has an excellent network of partner organizations on the ground and a proven methodology for distribution.
The Lifeline radio we developed is one of the most successful aid-only products in history and is robustly engineered for harsh conditions. With AM/FM and short-wave bands, it will pick up both local and international stations and with its excellent sound quality, large groups will be able to hear it clearly. It operates on solar energy coupled with a fail-safe winding mechanism.

Working with credible local partners, the radios will be distributed to shelters, schools, churches, health clinics and wherever people are gathered. As always, key beneficiaries will be women, teachers and community leaders. According to UNICEF, there are an estimated one million orphans across the country and priority will be given to provide access to a radio.

We need your support in two ways:

$32.00 will provide all inclusive funding for an emergency response radio. We have 15,000 radios appropriate for smaller group listening packaged and ready to be flown in to Haiti immediately. All we need is funding.
$65.00 for each Lifeline radio, which can be heard by 40-50 listeners, and includes shipping and distribution costs. These radios will be used mostly in the reconstruction phase but must be ordered soon.

You can also make a one off or recurring donation and for any amount by visiting Haiti Humanitarian Radio Relief Fund page

Thank you for your support. If you have any questions, please contact our Digital Fundraising and Marketing Manager, Bhavna Malkani on bmalkani@lifelineenergy.org.

Kristine Pearson
Chief Executive

Filed under: Emergency appeal — Tags: , , , , — Kristine Pearson @ 4:44 pm
Join the Tom Hanks Day page on Facebook

May 26, 2009

Thank you to everyone who donated and attended the 6th Annual Tom Hanks Day. We will be announcing the final total within the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, if you are on Facebook you can join the official Tom Hanks Day group – which will have the latest updates, pictures, messages and information about  Tom Hanks Day 2010!

Official Tom Hanks Day Facebook group

Filed under: Fundraising events,News — Tags: , — Lifeline Energy @ 2:22 pm
Tom Hanks Day 2009

March 25, 2009

tomhanksday09-copy

Academy Award winning actor and Lifeline Energy Ambassdor, Tom Hanks, will match every donation from this year’s Tom Hanks Day event. The 6th annual fundraiser dedicated to the Hollywood star promises to be bigger and better than ever. Films featuring Tom will be screened throughout the day. Exciting prizes have been donated to the raffle including personally signed items from Tom himself. Money raised will provide much needed Lifeline radios and clean energy Lifelights to child-headed families in Africa.

Tom Hanks Day will be at Galaway Bay at 500 W. Diversy, Chicago, IL, Saturday 28 March at 1:00 pm. If you are not in the Chicago area or are unable to make the event, you can make a difference and donate today and Tom will match every donation we receive. So if you donate $100 to Lifeline Energy, Tom will match your donation with another $100! This means that $200 would provide dependable radio access to more than 60 children or enable many children to read and study safely at night.

Please remember…

To watch our latest videos on Lifeline Energy TV

Follow Lifeline Energy on Twitter

Join Lifeline Energy Cause on Facebook

Make a difference by donating a Lifeline radio and a Lifelight

Filed under: Fundraising events,News — Tags: — Lifeline Energy @ 11:13 am