COME FROM AWAY and The Loukoumi Make A Difference Foundation Unite Children Around The World

Children worldwide will celebrate Make A Difference With Loukoumi Day in partnership with the award winning muscial Come From Away on October 24th with a Virtual Good Deed Event followed by in person Good Deed car caravans in 10 cities around the globe.

Each year the Loukoumi Make A Difference Foundation, a 501c3 that teaches children to make a difference in their lives and the lives of others, unites 100,000 children to do good deeds. On Make A Difference with Loukoumi Day the Foundation annually hosts good deed bus trips in select cities, where children engage in good deed projects with their families throughout the day, but this year, due to the pandemic, The Loukoumi Foundation has reinvented its program.

The virtual event will feature good deed projects with Loukoumi Foundation partners St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Broadway musical Come From Away, Celebrity Chef Maria Loi, and the organization, 3 Wishes for Ruby's Residents, which fulfills wishes of nursing home residents. Eleven nursing homes have been selected to participate.

After the Virtual Event, children and their families will mobilize in 10 cities around the world to do additional socially distanced good deeds through the car caravans. These will include dropping off gifts from the wish lists to nursing homes. Children will also deliver food to homeless shelters. The food will be cooked during the virtual event as part of a cooking lesson with Chef Loi. Additional stops will include visits to animal shelters, soup kitchens, foster homes, etc.

"The Loukoumi Foundation's mission of spreading kindness is as important as ever during these difficult times," said Loukoumi Foundation President and Founder Nick Katsoris. "The pandemic has made us reinvent our program, but at the same time the virtual aspect of the day will permit us to unite more and more children, who through the good deed projects will certainly put smiles on a lot of faces around the world - something that is needed more than ever right now."

Participating cities/areas include:

1. New York
2. Boston, MA
3. Chicago/Deerfield, IL
4. Gander, Newfoundland Canada (the town featured in Come From Away)
5. Washington DC/Virginia
6. Puerto Rico
7. South Florida
8. Los Angeles, CA
9. Dallas, TX
10. Ann Arbor, Michigan
11. and virtually around the world

MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY PROGRAM - October 24

Part 1: Virtual (starting at 11am EST)

• Reading: The event will start with a reading of the book Loukoumi's Good Deeds translated into Spanish with the Foundation's participating partners in Puerto Rico. Caesar Samayoa, one of the Broadway stars of the award-winning musical Come From Away will read the book.
• Virtual Good Deed 1: Children will first be engaged in making a card for a patient at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. They will then take a photo of it and e-mail it directly to St. Jude. Children will also make $1 donations to the Hospital at www.fundraising.stjude.org/loukoumi to support the Loukoumi Foundation treatment room at St. Jude, which was dedicated last October. Loukoumi author Nick Katsoris started Loukoumi's affiliation with St. Jude in 2008 with the release of the book Loukoumi's Good Deeds narrated on CD by Jennifer Aniston.
• Virtual Good Deed 2: Jeanette Gutierrez, a 9.11 survivor will discuss with children about writing "Never Forget" letters to families who lost a loved one on 9.11. Kids will write the letters after the virtual event and submit via e-mail.
• Virtual Good Deed 3: **Nursing Home Project: Nursing homes have been very hard hit during the pandemic and we have devised a project to put smiles on the faces of their residents. We will provide kids with an Amazon list of items needed by seniors in each city. Amanda Chitsey with her daughter Ruby, who founded the organization "3 Wishes for Ruby" will help orchestrate. These items will be either mailed or dropped off at the nursing homes in each city**. Ruby's philanthropic efforts were featured in People Magazine this month with Ruby being named one of 20 Girls Changing The World. For the wish lists visit: https://www.loukoumifoundation.org/loukoumi-wish-list
• *Virtual Good Deed 4: Cooking lesson with Chef Maria Loi. Maria will engage kids in a simple cooking lesson where kids will follow along and cook at home. The food will be delivered by the kids to a homeless shelter later in the day in 10 cities.

Part 2: In Person Car Caravans (in participating cities later that afternoon) OPTIONAL:

• Stop 1: *Bring the food cooked in the cooking class to a homeless shelter. Kids alternatively can bring a canned good or a dry food item to donate. We are identifying shelters in certain cities and have the cars one by one drive up to the shelter and give the donated items or the cooked food to a representative at the shelter
• Stop 2: **Nursing Home Project Part 2: Kids will drop off the items they purchased for senior residents, again one by one driving up in their cars and placing the items in a bin.
• Stop 3: Participating cities are also planning additional stops for causes they would like to support.

To register for the Virtual Event Visit: https://www.mtaconnect.com/ Loukoumi

Part 3: Virtual Mediterranean Tasting Event with Maria Loi November 10, 2020

This annual event will be virtual this year and feature several celebrity chefs and will show footage from Make A Difference Day to guests in attendance on the Zoom event.

About The Loukoumi Make A Difference Foundation:

Inspired by the Loukoumi children's book series by Nick Katsoris, The Loukoumi Make A Difference Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization teaching children to make a difference in their lives and the lives of others. Starting in 2008 with the release of the book Loukoumi's Good Deeds narrated by Jennifer Aniston, the Loukoumi movement now unites over 100,000 children annually to do good deeds for causes that mean something to them. Children learn that good deeds can be fun as they make a difference in their own special way.

The Loukoumi Foundation has received the USA Weekend National Make A Difference Day Award, Tegna's Make A Difference Day All-Star Award, and The Point of Light Award. Based on this project, the Loukoumi Foundation sponsors The Make A Difference With Loukoumi Exhibit at The Westchester Children's Museum, a national literacy project benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and a Good Deed of the Month Curriculum in over 300 schools. The Loukoumi Foundation also sponsors its annual Dream Day contest, making kids' career dreams come true for a day. The Loukoumi programs were featured in the Make A Difference With Loukoumi TV Special that aired on FOX stations nationwide.

For more on The Loukoumi Foundation, please visit: www.LoukoumiFoundation.org

For more on Come From Away visit www.comefromaway.com

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