CCFC Honors Story of Stuff Creator Annie Leonard with Fred Rogers Integrity Award

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) is proud to announce
that Annie Leonard -- creator and host of the Internet film sensation The
Story of Stuff -- has been selected to receive the fourth Fred
Rogers Integrity Award. The award, named in honor of the beloved host of
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, is given by CCFC to the public figure
whose efforts to protect children from harmful marketing best embody
Fred Rogers' long-standing commitment to nurturing the health and
well-being of America's children. The award will be presented to Leonard on Thursday,
April Eighth at 7:30 PM at the Wheelock College's Brookline Campus. 
The event is free and open to the public.

CCFC is honoring Leonard for
encouraging millions of young people to explore the links between
consumerism and environmental degradation and inspiring activism. The
New York Times called The Story of Stuff "a sleeper hit in
classrooms across the country." Teachers all over the world are using
the film to spark debate, encourage critical thinking, and spur students
to consider their own consumer habits.

"With humor and charm, The Story
of Stuff challenges the primary messages of marketing -- that the
things we buy will make us happy, and that who we are is what we own,"
said CCFC's director Dr. Susan Linn. "By exploring the creation and
disposal of consumer goods, Annie Leonard invites young people to
examine and change their own relationship with what-and how much-they
buy."

Since the release of The Story of
Stuff -- which has been viewed more than 10 million times in more
than 70 countries -- Leonard has continued to expose the hidden
environmental and social costs of our current systems of production and
consumption. She recently released the film The Story of Bottled Water,
and her just-published book The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession
with Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health-and a
Vision for Change (Free Press) is already garnering rave reviews.

"As a mother and activist, I am so
very honored to receive the Fred Rogers Integrity Award from the
Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood, " said Leonard. "Given the
incredible legacy of Mister Rogers and the great work of CCFC, I could
not be in better company in the work to create a healthy, safe,
commercial-free future for all children."

Fred Rogers once said, "We live in a
world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say 'It's
not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.' Then
there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my
heroes."

"We honor Annie Leonard for helping
children understand that that it is their world, and for
motivating them to take action to preserve it," said Dr. Linn.