Press Releases > Freeplay Foundation wins award for technology benefitting humanity

2001-11-09
2001-11-09

Freeplay Foundation wins award for technology benefitting humanity
LONDON, The Freeplay Foundation was recently named the recipient of the first annual Tech Museum of Innovation Awards: Technology Benefiting Humanity. The Freeplay Foundation was founded in 1998 by Freeplay Energy, known around the world for its popular line of self-sufficient, wind-up radios and flashlights, as an extension of the company's commitment to empowerment and development. Winning in the education category, the Freeplay Foundation received the $50,000 Nasdaq Stock Market Education Award in recognition of its radio technology serving as a lifeline for children in developing countries. Using patented wind-up and solar technology, Freeplay Radios do not require electricity or batteries. "We believe the Freeplay Foundation has won this prestigious award because we work to ensure that the benefits of Freeplay self-sufficient technology are made accessible to as many people as possible, especially children in Africa," said Kristine Pearson, executive director of the Foundation. "Our collaborative approach of working with respected organizations in-country enables our work not only to be sustainable, but also far reaching."

Sponsored by Santa Clara University on Nov. 1 and attended by former President Gerald R. Ford, the Tech Awards honored winners in five categories. The judges considered more than 390 individuals, for-profit companies, and public and nonprofit organizations representing 50 countries. Each winner received the award to encourage continued research and to honor their contributions in applying technology to solve global challenges and improve lives around the world. "Among the many ways of bringing goodness into our world, tonight we see technology as a path of virtue that benefits all people, especially those most in need," said SCU President Paul Locatelli. "This night we honor those who serve as examples of integrating technology with the transcendent to make our world more just, humane, and peace-filled."

The Freeplay Foundation will apply its award money toward research to produce a Freeplay wind-up and solar-powered radio designed specifically to benefit children living on their own in rural areas. "With millions of children around the world living without parents to guide them, radio can serve as a surrogate parent or teacher," said Ms. Pearson. "The Freeplay Lifeline Radio, designed specifically for children, will enable even the most vulnerable children access to critical information that can help them develop day-to-day life skills and even save lives during a natural disaster or a war." Working primarily in Africa, the Freeplay Foundation is a U.S. registered 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization and a U.K. registered not-for-profit. Its overseas offices are in Cape Town, South Africa and London, England.

To learn more about the Foundation, visit the web site at www.freeplayfoundation.org.

To learn more about the Tech Awards and Santa Clara University, go to www.scu.edu. ### Editor's Note: Please contact Michelle Riley in the U.S. at 281/291-7280 or email TGGW-Michelle@email.msn.com to set-up an interview before November 11 with Ms. Kristine Pearson, executive director of the Freeplay Foundation

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