Super Bowl LIV NFL Green Week events begin Jan. 14

As part of Huddle for 100, Green Week features community greening projects, Super Kids-Super Sharing school donation event and community e-waste event

MIAMI ( January 09, 2020 ) —

With just weeks to go before the big game, the celebration of Super Bowl LIV will be marked with a Green Week of community environmental events. The events will focus on building community gardens, planting trees, sharing thousands of new and gently used books, pieces of sports equipment and school supplies with local students in need, and giving residents an opportunity to drop off and responsibly recycle e-waste at no charge.

The National Football League, NFL sponsor Verizon, the Miami Dolphins and the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee developed a series of initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of Super Bowl LIV activities and to leave a positive green legacy in Greater Miami’s Super Bowl host community as part of the NFL’s Huddle for 100, which is an effort to have people donate their time to total 100 million minutes volunteered in honor of the NFL’s 100th season.

All community greening projects were developed in partnership with Miami-Dade Parks Recreation and Open Spaces Department.

Tuesday, Jan. 14 – Urban garden planting, creation of a pollinator garden and restoration of the nature preserve
Where: AD “Doug” Barnes Park Nature Center & Leisure Access Center, 3401 SW 72nd Avenue, Miami
Time: 9 a.m.

Volunteers from the Dolphins’ Special Teams, Verizon Green Team and the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee will work side by side with adults at the Therapeutic Recreation and Inclusion leisure access center to plant an edible urban garden, establish a pollinator garden with Florida-friendly and native plants and restore the nature preserve by removing invasive species and planting native slash pine trees.

Super Bowl LIV community greening projects have already been completed at Crandon Park, Glenwood Park, Kendall Indian Hammocks Park Preserve and Pelican Island.

Thursday, Jan. 16 – Super Kids-Super Sharing
Where: St. Thomas University - Fernandez Family Center for Leadership & Wellness, 16401 NW 37th Avenue, Miami Gardens
Time: 9 a.m.

Hundreds of local school children will bring thousands of donated books, pieces of sports equipment, school supplies and games to a Super Kids-Super Sharing event at St. Thomas University. Beginning at 9 a.m. students will help drop off and sort the donated items they’ve collected, then enjoy play activities provided by the Miami Dolphins. There will be a brief ceremony at 10 a.m. with representatives from the NFL, Miami Dolphins, Verizon, St. Thomas University and the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee. The Dillard High School Vocal Jazz Ensemble will perform.

More than 100 schools from throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties are participating in Super Kids-Super Sharing as donors or recipients. Over the years, this popular Super Bowl community initiative has collected hundreds of thousands of books, pieces of sports equipment and school supplies to help local children in need.

Super Kids-Super Sharing has been implemented in every Super Bowl host community for the last 21 years. In honor of Super Kids and the NFL’s 100th season, Verizon will plant 10,000 trees (100 trees for each of the NFL’s 100 years) in Florida’s Econfina River State Park. Verizon will also plant 100,000 trees in Madagascar to restore ecologically devastated mangrove estuaries and forests and revive natural habitat for endangered animal species. As part of Super Kids-Super Sharing, Verizon will announce a $100,000 grant to the Education Fund to support a first in the nation initiative that funds food forests for schools in the Miami-Dade region. This innovative model takes STEM learning out of textbooks and classrooms and turns school grounds into "eco-labs” that provide hands-on learning and dramatically increase student’s science scores.

Friday, Jan. 17 – Citrus Collection Renewal at Miami-Dade Park’s Redland Fruit & Spice Park
Where: 24801 SW 187 Avenue, Homestead, FL
Time: 9 a.m.

NFL sponsor Anheuser-Busch will team up with volunteers from the Miami Dolphins’ Special Teams, Verizon Green Team and the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee to renew and reinterpret the citrus fruit collection at the Redland Fruit & Spice Park by planting 20 new, curated specimens in raised planter boxes along a new aesthetically pleasing pathway. Citrus has long been a significant part of Florida agriculture. The project will interpret past success and current challenges to the commercial industry and home grower alike. Anheuser-Busch is providing funding for this project in partnership with Verizon and NFL Green.

Fruit & Spice Park is the only tropical botanical garden of its kind in the United States. The Park’s tropical climate cannot be found anywhere else in the continental U.S. and hosts more than 500 varieties of fruits, vegetables, spices, herbs, nuts and other commercially important plant specimens from around the world.

Saturday, Jan. 18 – Super Bowl LIV E-Waste Recycling Rally and Tree Giveaway
Where: Zoo Miami, 12400 SW 152 Street, Miami
Time: 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The NFL has teamed with Verizon, Zoo Miami and Miami-Dade Parks for a Super Bowl E-Waste Recycling Rally. Area residents can help with the “greening” of Super Bowl LIV by bringing their e-waste to this event sponsored by Verizon. The Recycling Rally is open to the public and free of charge. Local residents may drop off all types of electronic waste to be recycled responsibly and kept out of local landfills. Items such as computers, printers, monitors, cell phones and televisions will be accepted. (Large appliances such as refrigerators will not be accepted.) The first 250 families dropping off e-waste will receive a gift bag which includes a discount for Zoo Miami admission along with other items. Zoo Miami mascots will be present during morning hours to greet participants. The Recycling Rally takes place outside the Zoo entrance in the northeast parking lot. It’s not necessary to enter the Zoo to participate. Simply drive up and volunteers will be ready to help unload.

Responsibly recycling cell phones and other electronics helps to protect the natural environment of gorillas and other animals by reducing the amount of habitat disturbed by mining for the minerals used in these items.

As part of the Recycling Rally and in celebration of Florida’s Arbor Day, Miami-Dade Park’s Million Trees Miami initiative will give away trees to the first 500 participants requesting them. Simply drive up and Miami-Dade Parks’ staff will be ready to help. It’s not necessary to participate in the Recycling Rally to receive a tree.

About NFL Green:
NFL Green, the NFL’s environmental program, has managed environmental-related Super Bowl projects for more than 25 years. These environmental projects are part of a larger program of community events and initiatives implemented each year by the NFL and Super Bowl Host Committee to leave a positive benefit in each Super Bowl host community.

NFL Green is part of the NFL’s sustainability platform which works to create a positive, green legacy in host communities. These efforts include food recovery and distribution, recycling and solid waste management, recovery and donation of event and building materials, community greening projects, the use of green energy to power events, and the Super Kids-Super Sharing community project which puts books, sports equipment and school supplies into the hands of local children in need.

About Miami-Dade Parks:
Miami-Dade Parks is the third largest county park system in the United States, consisting of 270 parks and 13,573 acres of land. It is one of the most unique park and recreation systems in the world and focused on Placemaking, Health and Fitness and Conservation and Stewardship. The nonprofit Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade supports Miami-Dade Parks’ efforts to further develop Miami-Dade County’s world-class parks system for residents and visitors.

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ALL MEDIA CONTACTS:

Susan Groh, NFL Green (401) 952-0885
Kamali Burke, Miami-Dade Parks (786) 300-9046
Karla Fortuny, Miami Super Bowl Host Committee (786) 789-2020
Paola Argueta, Miami Dolphins (703) 663-0292
Ron Magill, Zoo Miami (305) 251-0400
Isabel Gamarra, St. Thomas University (305) 474-6044