Update: Newly Crowned Miss America Joins CDF for Day of Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Saturday, January 19, from 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., newly crowned Miss America 2013, Mallory Hagan will be a special guest at the Children's Defense Fund National Day of Service and Social Action. Miss America will participate in the morning ceremony with children from DC General Homeless Shelter as part of their CDF Freedom Schools^® National Day of Service. As the special guest, Ms. Hagan will speak to the children and read aloud from one of the books in their curriculum for the day. Crowned last weekend at the Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas, Miss America 2013 will then embark on her 350 day tour of the country to encourage children, teachers and other community partners to focus on education.   

Children's Defense Fund Hosts National Day of Service
CDF Freedom Schools^® Children at DC General Homeless Shelter

What:  
On Saturday January 19, from 8:00a.m. – 3:00p.m., the Children's Defense Fund Freedom Schools^® program will host a National Day of Service and Social Action at the largest homeless shelter for children and families in the nation's capital, the D.C. General Emergency Family Shelter. The Homeless Children's Playtime Project, the See Forever Foundation and Maya Angelou Schools, the National Center for Children and Families (NCCF), D.C. General Emergency Family Shelter, and the Capital Area Food Bank will partner with CDF as part of the President's call to serve to put the spotlight on the critical need to end poverty in America and the devastating impact it has on children and families. The opening session will start with the traditional CDF Freedom Schools Harambee, a child-affirming ceremony with cheers and chants. A special guest will participate and read aloud to the children and multi-generational servant leaders.

Fifty children who live at D.C. General Emergency Family Shelter and 50 children from Maya Angelou Public Charter School, CDF Freedom Schools scholars, will participate and learn about actions they can take to make a difference in their world. Parents and young community leaders will learn how to advocate more effectively for children.

Marian Wright Edelman, president, Children's Defense Fund will deliver A Call to Social Action in the afternoon during an interfaith Children's Sabbath Service.

This event is open to the public and press is welcome. Press, please register for credentials: [email protected].

Who:   
Marian Wright Edelman, president, Children's Defense Fund
Miss America 2013, Mallory Hagan
Dr. Sheryl Brissett Chapman, executive director, The National Center for Children and Families (NCCF)
The Rev. Dr. Lewis M. Anthony
Dr. Thomas Maridada, director of Education Policy, Practice, and Strategic Initiatives, Children's Defense Fund
LaMont Geddis, principal, Maya Angelou Public Charter School

When: 
Saturday, January 19, 2013
8:00 – 9:00 a.m. – Registration and Breakfast
9:00 – 10:00 a.m. – Welcome and Freedom Schools Opening Harambee with Special Guest
10:00 – 12:00 noon – Classroom Breakout Sessions
12:00 – 1:30 p,m. – Lunch
1:30 – 2:00 p.m. – Afternoon Harambee
2:00 – 3:00 p.m. – Interfaith Children's Sabbath and Call to Social Action and Service

Where:
DC General Homeless Shelter for Children and Families
1900 Massachusetts avenue SE
Washington, D.C. 20003

Web:    www.childrensdefense.org

The Children's Defense Fund

The Children's Defense Fund Leave No Child Behind^® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.

The Homeless Children's Playtime Project

The mission of the Homeless Children's Playtime Project is to nurture healthy child development and reduce the effects of trauma among children living in temporary housing programs in the District of Columbia. We believe that play is a human right that all children deserve, regardless of housing status. We seek to help create a city that provides every opportunity for homeless children to succeed by advocating for affordable housing and safe shelters for all families.

See Forever Foundation and Maya Angelou Schools

Our mission is to create learning communities in lower income urban areas where all students, particularly those who have not succeeded in traditional schools, can reach their potential and prepare for college, career, and a lifetime of success. At Maya Angelou our students develop the academic, social, and employment skills they need to build rewarding lives and promote positive change.

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF)

The National Center for Children and Families (NCCF), a nonprofit organization committed to vulnerable children, youth, and families for nearly a century, provides comprehensive, multidisciplinary supports to homeless children and their parents, impoverished families, survivors of domestic violence, and abused and neglected children and adolescents who have  been removed from their families. Nationally accredited, NCCF propels 4,000+ children, youth, and families annually into an improved quality of life, through 16 local programs:  emergency shelters and transitional housing, therapeutic residential care, foster care and adoption, teen parent services, and community-based prevention services, while relying on community education and training, volunteerism, and advocacy.

National Day of Service

President Obama believes that service should be a lifelong commitment—whether it's at the school, community, city, state, or national level. That's why the first family serves on a regular basis, and it's why they're continuing the tradition they started four years ago with a National Day of Service on January 19th, 2013. To honor the life and legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the first family is asking Americans to find an event and serve with others in their community.

Capital Area Food Bank

The mission of the Capital Area Food Bank is to feed those who suffer from hunger in the Washington metro area by acquiring food and distributing it through its network of partner agencies; and educating, empowering and enlightening the community about the issues of hunger and nutrition. CAFB is a member of Feeding America, a national network of 200 food banks.

For More Information Contact:
Patti Hassler
Vice President of Communications and Outreach
202-662-3554 office
[email protected]  

SOURCE Children's Defense Fund