From Coast to Coast and at U.S. Military Bases Worldwide, Parents, Students, Educators, Community Leaders and Lawmakers Will Rally to Keep the Lights On Afterschool This Week

Many Events to Include Lighting of Local Landmarks

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On October 20, Friendship Fountain in Jacksonville and Love Fountain in Philadelphia will be lit up, children holding candles will illuminate the Battleship Texas in La Porte, Texas, and the La Grande Vitesse sculpture in Grand Rapids, Michigan will be lit with multi-colored lights.  These are just a few of the 7,500 Lights On Afterschool events that will take place in nearly every community in the country this week.  A million people are expected to join these events, which will feature everything from children's performances to youth art exhibits to science experiments and robotics demonstrations.  This year marks the 12th annual Lights On Afterschool, organized by the Afterschool Alliance.  

For the fifth year in a row, the Empire State Building will be lit up in yellow to commemorate Lights On Afterschool.  This year, as part of the "Light Up a Landmark" contest sponsored by jcpenney and the Afterschool Alliance, 17 other landmarks across the country will also be lit up in support of the afterschool programs that keep kids safe, inspire them to learn and help working families.  

Across the country, parents, kids, educators and others will also take the opportunity to urge lawmakers not to deny or divert crucial federal funds from the afterschool programs that families rely on.

A special feature at the Jacksonville, Florida "Light Up a Landmark" event will be the official release of the 2011 State-by-State Afterschool Progress Reports and Consumer Guides, which consists of 50 state reports that examine how each state is helping keep the lights on for kids and families after school.  Produced by the Afterschool Alliance and sponsored by jcpenney, the progress reports review state policies, funding and other activities that affect afterschool programs, examine the need in each state for these programs, offer tips to parents seeking afterschool programs for their children, and suggest ways that all state residents can support afterschool. The progress reports will be posted Thursday at www.afterschoolalliance.org.

Several hundred event descriptions are at http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/loaEvents2011.pdf.  A complete list of 7,500 events is at http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/loaFindEvent.cfm.

The Afterschool Alliance is a nonprofit public awareness and advocacy organization working to ensure that all children and youth have access to quality afterschool programs.  More information is available at www.afterschoolalliance.org.

SOURCE Afterschool Alliance