NEW YORK, Nov. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today in Times
Square, thousands of visitors joined actor and Operation Smile
Ambassador Zachary Levi; celebrity
photographer and USO Ambassador Nigel
Barker; actress and United Nations Foundation's Girl Up
Ambassador Katherine McNamara; and
Save the Children to kick off the "season of giving" with the free
Donate a Photo app from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:
JNJ).
Experience the interactive Multimedia News Release here:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7263551-donate-a-photo-operation-smile/
Visitors to the interactive giving experience learned how they
can, literally, give back in a snap by turning something they do
every day – taking a photo – into a way to raise funds and
awareness for causes they care about. For every photo
shared through the app, Johnson & Johnson donates $1 to one of its trusted non-profit partners,
chosen by the user from a rotating list of causes.
Anyone can participate by downloading the Donate a Photo app
from the Apple App Store or through Google Play. From there,
it's as simple as picking a cause to support, uploading a photo and
sharing on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using the handle
@DonateaPhoto and #JNJ, #DonateaPhoto, #365DaysofCare or
#DonateEveryday.
"Funds raised through Donate a Photo are just a small part of
our long-standing commitment to caring for and supporting children
and families around the world," said Michael Sneed, Vice President, Global Corporate
Affairs for Johnson & Johnson.
Giving campaigns for the organizations featured at today's event
will stay active on the Donate a Photo app until the fundraising
goal of 50,000 photos shared (or $50,000) each is met.
"What I love about Donate a Photo is that it's a way for us to
raise awareness and activate the power of social media on behalf of
our nonprofit partners," said Sneed. "You can donate one
photo every day and share it out on your social media channels.
Compounded over weeks, months and years, the potential exposure and
impact is immeasurable."
The Causes
Here's how Donate a Photo will help support
the efforts of these nonprofit partners:
- Operation Smile: All funds donated through Donate a
Photo to Operation Smile go to support life changing surgeries for
children around the world with cleft lip, cleft palate or other
facial deformities. It takes 240 photos to provide a safe
surgery that will help one child eat, speak, and smile with
confidence. Goal: 208 surgeries
- Save the Children: All funds donated through Donate a
Photo to Save the Children go to support its Early Steps to School
Success program, which helps provide parents and caregivers with
the training and tools they need to create a stimulating
environment for their child, and give them a strong start in
learning, and in life. It takes 50 photos for an early
childhood specialist to train a parent. Goal: 1000 training
sessions
- United Service Organizations (USO): All funds donated
through Donate a Photo to the USO's connectivity services which
provide video calls and phone calls for deployed service members,
helping them to stay connected with their loved
ones. Each photo helps provide 30 minutes of a video or
phone call home for a deployed service member. Goal: 25,000 hours
of calls
- Girl Up: All funds donated through Donate a Photo to
Girl Up will support Girl Up's SchoolCycle program. After a
successful launch in Malawi last
year, Girl Up will now be expanding the program to Guatemala, providing bicycles to girls who
often drop out of school because of long and dangerous
commutes. Bicycles provide a safer, easier way to travel to
school, so these girls can continue their education and help
provide a brighter future for themselves, their families and their
communities. It takes 125 photos to help provide one bicycle
to a girl so she can complete her education. Goal: 400
bicycles
The Impact
Since its inception in April 2013, more than 800,000 photos have been
donated by more than 85,000 users benefiting 50 nonprofit
partners. Users can select from a rotating list of causes
that have helped millions of women, children and families around
the world.
"Donate a Photo also allows Johnson & Johnson to be quick in
responding to situations that put people at risk, such as the
earthquake in Nepal or the
children in the Syrian refugee crisis," said Sneed. "This
type of support is central to our company mission."
Previous donations have been used to help send students to
nursing school, protect children from bullying, give homeless
children happier birthdays, provide life-saving medicine for
infants, help a wounded veteran, provide financial and educational
services to low-income women and get clean water for a village.
Johnson & Johnson has curated a list of trusted causes,
and users can donate a photo to one cause, once a day. Each cause
will appear in the app until it reaches its goal, or the donation
period ends. If the goal isn't reached, the cause will still get a
minimum donation.
About Johnson & Johnson:
Caring for the world, one
person at a time, inspires and unites the people of Johnson &
Johnson. We embrace research and science - bringing
innovative ideas, products and services to advance the health and
well-being of people. Our approximately 128,000 employees at
more than 265 Johnson & Johnson operating companies work with
partners in health care to touch the lives of over a billion people
every day, throughout the world.
About Operation Smile
Operation Smile is an
international medical charity whose global network of thousands of
credentialed medical volunteers from more than 80 countries is
dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children from
more than 60 countries. Since its founding in 1982, Operation Smile
has provided more than 240,000 free surgical procedures for
children and young adults born with cleft lip, cleft palate and
other facial deformities. To build long-term sufficiency in
resource poor environments, Operation Smile trains doctors and
local medical professionals in its partner countries so they are
empowered to treat their local communities and help others around
the world. Operation Smile also donates medical equipment and
supplies and provides year-round medical treatments through its
worldwide centers. Operation Smile is fortunate to count
Zachary Levi as a Smile Ambassador
who devotes much time and energy doing philanthropic work through
his company The Nerd Machine and his annual comic con event NERD
HQ.
About Save the Children
Save the Children invests in
childhood – every day, in times of crisis and for our future. In
the United States and around the
world, we are dedicated to ensuring every child has the best chance
for success. Our pioneering programs give children a healthy start,
the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. Our advocacy
efforts provide a voice for children who cannot speak for
themselves. As the leading expert on children, we inspire and
achieve lasting impact for millions of the world's most vulnerable
girls and boys. By transforming children's lives now, we change the
course of their future and ours.
About Girl Up
Girl Up, the United Nations
Foundation's adolescent girl campaign, supports the empowerment of
girls everywhere. Since its launch in 2010, the campaign has
funded UN programs that promote the health, safety, education, and
leadership of girls in developing countries and built a community
of nearly half a million passionate advocates - including Girl Up
Global Advocates Her Majesty Queen Rania Al
Abdullah of Jordan and
Latin American business leader Angélica Fuentes. Our youth
leaders, representing more than 1200 Girl Up Clubs in 66 countries,
stand up, speak up, and rise up to support the hardest to reach
girls living in places where it is hardest to be a girl.
Learn more at GirlUp.org.
About the USO
The USO strengthens America's military
service members by keeping them connected to family, home and
country, throughout their service to the nation. At hundreds
of locations worldwide, we are united in our commitment to connect
our service members and their families through countless acts of
caring, comfort, and support. The USO is a private, non-profit
organization, not a government agency. Its programs, services and
entertainment tours are made possible by the American people,
support of our corporate partners and the dedication of our
volunteers and staff.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/share-a-photo-give-back-in-a-snap-300184317.html
SOURCE Johnson & Johnson