Texas PBS Stations take on Childhood Hunger and Obesity
Outreach Effort available through YouTube Channel
Texas PBS stations are bringing awareness to the often-overlapping issues of childhood hunger and obesity. The Texas Feeding Minds Project is a two-pronged initiative that begins this fall with an outreach effort and concludes in February 2012 with a statewide broadcast. The entire effort is aimed at raising awareness about the environmental and behavioral factors that contribute to the problems of childhood hunger and obesity and what Texans can do to combat these issues.
The Texas Feeding Minds community outreach effort gives organizations and Texans of all ages the opportunity to share their own stories on the topic through a YouTube channel dedicated solely to the project: www.youtube.com/texasfeedingminds
KACV/Amarillo is coordinating this effort with a statewide digital video-camera loan program to enable participating partners - food banks, youth groups, schools, etc. - to share their stories of struggles and success when dealing with these issues. This effort is being made possible by Blue Bell Ice Cream. The collection and YouTube updating of stories will continue through February, when the on-air component of the project will come to fruition. Contributing stations include College Station/KAMU, El Paso/KCOS, Harlingen/KMBH and Houston/KUHT.
Feeding Minds: Texas Takes on Hunger and Obesity will be a news-style documentary made possible through a grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. Scheduled to air February 23, 2012, the program will illuminate the challenges Texas communities face and successful solutions they can employ in the face of childhood hunger and obesity. Stations contributing to this effort are: Austin/KLRU, Corpus Christi/KEDT, Dallas/KERA, El Paso/KCOS, Houston/KUHT, Lubbock/KTXT and San Antonio/KLRN. KACV/Amarillo at Amarillo College is serving as coordinator and producer of this pivotal program.
Texas PBS is comprised of 12 public television stations whose collective aim is to inspire community engagement and lifelong learning for all Texans. www.texaspbs.org.
For more information, please contact:
Kierstan Schwab Cullen Lutz
Executive Director Community Engagement Specialist
Texas Public Broadcasting Association KACV/Amarillo
512-223-2719 806-576-4480
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