Sacramento, CA (August 8, 2016) – RedRover, a national nonprofit organization headquartered in Sacramento, California, was awarded an IKEA makeover from the IKEA store in West Sacramento that will transform classroom space at Golden Empire Elementary School in the Sacramento City Unified School District; a school that has fully adopted the RedRover Readers program designed to teach children empathy. The classroom space is a setting for sharing stories, engaging in thought-provoking discussions and practicing life skills, such as perspective-taking, critical thinking, and learning respect and compassion. This IKEA makeover will provide Golden Empire students a beautiful environment for positive learning experiences. Volunteers and staff from IKEA, RedRover and Golden Empire will collaborate at Golden Empire Elementary School on Tuesday, August 9 to prepare the space in time for the new school year.
“RedRover is always looking for ways to support schools’ efforts to foster students’ social and emotional learning. We are thrilled that IKEA has given RedRover the opportunity to help Golden Empire Elementary school in such a creative way!” said RedRover’s President and CEO Nicole Forsyth.
“Creative partnerships like this one with RedRover and IKEA play an integral role in our school district being able to provide the most engaging environments possible for our students to be successful,” said José L. Banda, Superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District. “We are grateful for this opportunity to build a learning environment that supports this innovative program at Golden Empire.”
IKEA wants to play a part in creating a better life for the many people and communities touched by IKEA business. While IKEA works on a global level to improve the lives of people in developing countries, IKEA also wants to be a good neighbor in its local communities. The IKEA Life Improvement Co-worker challenge is one way to make a difference closer to home.
How the IKEA Life Improvement Challenge Works
Each year, IKEA receives many inspiring proposals from IKEA co-workers as candidates for the campaign. Then the IKEA steering committee – at each store – selects up to three organizations for co-workers and customers to vote online (this year’s voting period was March 27- April 10). The charitable organization, from each store market, with the highest number of online votes becomes the winner, and the 2nd and 3rd place winners receive an IKEA product donation.
IKEA U.S. started the IKEA Life Improvement Challenge in 2011, and since then over 200 local charities have received over $1 million in IKEA products, design expertise, and manpower. For more information on the winners, read here: http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/this-is-ikea/people-and-planet/life-improve…
RedRover helps animals and people in crisis from all over the country, and seeks to enhance empathy as a critical 21st Century skill and builds positive connections with others. The innovative RedRover Readers program has already helped kids understand the behavior and emotions of animals and people and has developed empathy skills in classrooms across the continent. For more information, please visit www.RedRover.org/Readers
About RedRover
RedRover brings animals from crisis to care and strengthens the bond between people and animals through a number of unique outreach programs. Our volunteer team shelters and cares for animals displaced by natural disasters and reconnects them to owners. We also shelter and care for animals rescued from puppy mills, hoarding cases and other significant abuse situations. With RedRover Readers, we help children explore the bond between people and animals through stories and discussion. RedRover is a four star rated charity by Charity Navigator.
About IKEA Group
The IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. Our business idea supports this vision by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. There are currently 328 IKEA Group stores in 28 countries. Additionally, there are 40 IKEA stores run by franchises. There are 41 IKEA stores in the U.S. In FY 15, IKEA Group had 771 million visitors to the stores and 1.9 billion visitors to IKEA.com. IKEA incorporates sustainability into day-to-day business and supports initiatives that benefit children and the environment. For more information, please visit www.IKEA.com, facebook.com/IKEAUSA, @IKEAUSANews, @IKEAUSA, http://pinterest.com/IKEAUSA/, www.youtube.com/IKEAUSA, www.theshare-space.com, www.theshare-space.com/en/Blog
About SCUSD
The Sacramento City Unified School District is the 10th largest K-12 district in California, serving 43,000 students on 76 campuses. SCUSD’s Board-approved mission is to graduate students as competitive lifelong learners, prepared to succeed in a career and higher education institution of their choice to secure gainful employment and contribute to society.
Media Contacts
Karly Noel
Director of Education and Outreach, RedRover
916-247-0906
knoel@redrover.org
Hans Greenawalt
IKEA West Sacramento
916-376-0597 ext. 1336
Hans.grensawalt@IKEA.com