The Harrington Family Foundation

Verizon and SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) today named Gov. Kulongoski and pro football star Joey Harrington as literacy champions for Oregon.

Gov. Kulongoski, a long-time literacy advocate, will join Harrington's parents at the Barnes Elementary School Library where he will be interviewed by 2nd and 3rd grade SMART students about the impact reading has had on his life. In addition, Gov. Kulongoski will read from one of his favorite SMART book-award selections, 'Dog Breath'.

"Literacy has been a long-time passion of mine", said Kulongoski. "Every Oregonian should have the opportunity to live up to their fullest potential and reading is the first step toward helping our children become successful adults."

Harrington, an NFL quarterback and University of Oregon standout, is on the offense for literacy. "Reading is what gave me my start in life," he said. "It opened the doors of football to me when I read about the great players and what motivated them. Literacy is an essential for personal and professional success."

The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, and Verizon Reads have presented SMART with a combined gift of $26,862 to help raise awareness and funds throughout Oregon. The Verizon Foundation contributed$15,000, and Verizon Reads contributed $11,862 through the Check Into Literacy program, which allows Verizon local telephone customers to donate $1 each month to literacy programs in their state.

The Literacy Champion program is part of the Verizon Reads literacy awareness campaign. Verizon partners with celebrities nationwide to give literacy a familiar face, bring attention to a critical issue, and raise awareness and funds for the cause of literacy.

"Literacy is our focus at Verizon. Building understanding of the issues surrounding low literacy is a central goal of Verizon's Literacy Champion program and is a major step toward a solution, as is raising funds to support organizations that combat low literacy with education," said David Valdez, Verizon Northwest vice president of public affairs, policy and communications. "We are pleased to have Gov. Kulongoski and Joey Harrington as our Literacy Champions for Oregon."

SMART Chief Executive Officer Mary Jubitz said, "We believe every child deserves the opportunity to become a reader. Unfortunately, not all children have the same opportunities. SMART is committed to bring this treasured opportunity to Oregon children who need extra help to develop reading skills and is proud to join Verizon and its newest literacy champions to accomplish this goal."

About SMART

SMART is Oregon's leading nonprofit early literacy program, serving kindergartners through third graders at risk of low literacy and its negative consequences. Our vision is simple yet profound to transform our children's future through reading.

SMART gives students the two things they need most to learn to read: adult attention and books. Caring adult volunteers read individually with two children for one hour a week during the school year. SMART also gives each child two free books every month to keep and read with their families, extending a culture of literacy and love of learning into the home.

Businesses, organizations and individuals provide the volunteers and funds needed to run the program. To learn more about the SMART program, visit www.getsmartoregon.org or call 1-877-598-4633.

About Verizon

Verizon is committed to championing literacy in America. The company conducts a national campaign to increase community awareness and to generate additional funding and support for literacy programs that serve adults, children and families. Working under the banner of Verizon Reads, a public charity, the award-winning philanthropy program reaches out to the more than 40 million Americans who have low literacy skills. For more information on Verizon Reads, visit www.VerizonReads.net.

Detroit Lions Website
ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Detroit Lions quarterback Joey Harrington was the special guest of Dylan Brown at O. W. Best Middle School in Dearborn Heights today (October 25th). The sixth grader was the winner of the "NFL Take a Player to School" Contest presented by JCPenney Afterschool Program.

The morning began bright and early with an 8:00 pick up by Joey in a stretch limousine, arranged by the NFL and JCPenney, to pick up Dylan at his home to begin the morning's adventure. After arriving at school, Dylan gave Joey a tour of the office, visited his locker and then headed to a gymnasium filled with Best students eagerly waiting for the quarterback's visit.

Approximately 260 middle school students heard from Harrington during an all-school assembly. Harrington also made a special visit to Dylans sixth-grade class, tossed passes to the students, and conducted a question and answer session with the athletes and cheerleaders from the school.

Harrington answered dozens of questions ranging from his interests on and off the football field (Joey loves virtually all sports and has played the piano since he was four years old), has he always played quarterback (yes --- his dad and uncles were all quarterbacks, too, as is his brother now at the Univesrity of Idaho) and how good his grades were in school (a 3.8 student at Central Catholic High School in Portland, Oregon and he earned a degree in business administration at the University of Oregon before coming to the Lions in 2002).

Dylan won the visit from Harrington through a "Take a Player to School" sweepstakes conducted by JCPenney in each of the 32 NFL markets and two non-NFL cities.

Since 1999, JCPenney and its official charity, the JCPenney Afterschool Fund, have contributed more than $40 million to support programs that promote the academic, physical, and social development of children in afterschool centers nationwide. The fund was established to encourage children, ages 6-13, to stay in school and become involved in after school programs.

(See Photo Gallery: Middle School Visit)

An excerpt taken from Childrens Hospital of Michigan quarterly publication:


Want to find out how much kids love Joey Harrington? Just go to a Detroit Lions home game and count the number of children in the stands wearing the young quarterback's #3 jersey. It'll be halftime before you're done.

And it seems the feeling is mutual - Joey loves kids too.

"I've always liked working with kids," the Lions quarterback says." Back in Oregon, I worked with the Shriners Children's Hospital there. And when I came to Detroit my rookie year, I knew I'd get involved with Children's Hospital of Michigan eventually."

But he didn't know he'd soon be spending time in the hospital himself. In December of his rookie season, Joey experienced an irregular heartbeat during a game against Tampa Bay. He left the game and was transported to a local hospital, where he later had a cardiac ablation procedure to repair an electrical disturbance in his heart.

Joey missed the last two games of that season, but made a complete recovery. Now, in his characteristic positive attitude, he sees only the good that came out of it.

"After I had my heart procedure, that's when it hit me that I could really do some good with this," he says. "I can tell kids who are going through the same type of procedure that hey, I've been through it and everything turned out OK."

Since then, Joey has found other ways to help kids. In 2002, he and his family established the Harrington Family Foundation to support local and national non-profit organizations working to improve healthcare and education for children. The foundation has made financial donations to many children's organizations, including a $25,000 gift to purchase a special cardiac ablation instrument for the Pediatric Cardiology program at Children's Hospital of Michigan.

In response to the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, the Harrington Family Foundation has made a $10,000 donation to Mercy Corps, a Portland, Oregon based relief organization with a long history of supporting children and helping them heal after natural disasters and other crises, both domestically and internationally. Mercy Corps was a vital presence in the aftermath of 9/11 and the Indian Ocean Tsunami, as well as, a continuing presence in Darfur, Sudan.

The following is an excerpt from the Mercy Corps website:

"The effect of a disaster like Hurricane Katrina can have a lasting traumatic impact on survivors, especially children. Children in particular are vulnerable to trauma, as it is more difficult for them to make sense of what has happened.

Mercy Corps will support psychosocial programs that help the survivors overcome their trauma, with a special emphasis on children. We will work with schools, daycare centers, children's service agencies and other local groups to provide appropriate psychosocial support to children. We will focus on activities that restore healthy activities and routines for children, as well as ways to engage the children themselves in the planning and implementation of programs.

In the coming months, Mercy Corps will utilize the lessons it's learned and experience it's gained to make a critical difference for children who have suffered loss from Hurricane Katrina. Through partnerships with schools, daycare centers and local child service agencies, we will get kids the material, educational and psychological support they need to address the trauma of this event."

The Harrington Family Foundation encourages everyone to offer support to the victims of Hurricane Katrina either by financial contribution, donation of goods or services, or volunteering to directly assist those affected by this disaster. To learn more about Mercy Corps, please visit their website at www.mercycorps.org.

DETROIT . . . Detroit Lions quarterback Joey Harrington was recently named "Team Captain" of CATCH, the children's charity founded by former Detroit Tigers Manager and Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson

As part of his responsibilities, Harrington will serve as a team spokesman for the charity, visit hospitalized children and provide support to CATCH's major fund-raising activities.

"The Detroit Lions have been a generous and long-time supporter of CATCH since it was founded 18 years ago," said CATCH Executive Director Jim Hughes. "We're thrilled to have Joey on our team and we look forward to a working with him in advancing the mission of CATCH."

CATCH is a children's charity that was founded by Sparky Anderson in 1987 when he was managing the Detroit Tigers. CATCH raises funds for items and services that improve the quality of life of sick, injured and needy pediatric patients who receive care from Children's Hospital and Henry Ford Hospital.

Included is the CATCH Pediatric Mobile Health Programs that provide basic health services for Detroit children who experience barriers to accessing health care. Additionally, funds are used to build a board-designated endowment fund to continue and increase the support of children's special needs.

Since inception, CATCH has provided nearly $3 million for social service items and services including the mobile health programs, wheelchair ramps, computerized communicators, adaptive bicycles and tricycles, emergency funding for utilities and post-discharge medication, temporary housing and shelter, special transportation needs and miscellaneous funeral expenses.

Each year, CATCH raises funds through a series of special events, including its popular CATCH Golf Classic in July and the CATCH Night of Champions dinner in October. This year's Night of Champions will take place on Wednesday, October 19, at The Ritz-Carlton, Dearborn.

For more information on CATCH, call (313) 876-9399, or visit www.catchcharity.org.