IBEW Local 103 and NECA Boston Bring Nine Starlight Fun Centers to Boston Children’s Hospital Using Funding from CBS EcoMedia’s WellnessAd Advertising

BOSTON, Sept. 4, 2013 /3BL Media/  – The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103 of Boston and the Boston Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) have teamed with CBS EcoMedia Inc. and Starlight Children’s Foundation^® to provide nine new Starlight Fun Center^® mobile entertainment units to Boston Children’s Hospital.

The arrival of the nine Starlight Fun Centers was celebrated today during a private ribbon-cutting dedication event at the Boston Children’s Hospital’s Karp Family Research Building with guests Boston Mayor, Thomas M. Menino; IBEW Local 103 Business Manager, Mike Monahan; IBEW Local 103 Business Agent, Mike Calder; NECA Executive Manager, Glenn Kingsbury; Boston Children’s Chief Administrative Officer, Dick Argys; COO and Executive Vice President for Health Affairs at Boston Children’s, Dr. Kevin Churchwell; Boston Children’s Hospital’s Director of Child Life Services, Beth Donegan; Starlight Children’s Foundation’s Global Accounts Director, Michelle Plasse, and President and Founder, CBS EcoMedia Inc., Paul Polizzotto participating. 

“Two years ago, we decided to put our advertising budget to work in a new and exciting way.  By advertising with EcoMedia, we were able to continue to get the valuable advertising that has been so beneficial to our members and contractors; and, at the same time, a portion of those advertising dollars were dedicated to environmentally-friendly development projects, creating jobs and good, sound projects for our communities,” said Mike Monahan, IBEW Local 103 Business Manager. 

“We are now extremely pleased to take the next step with this creative advertising tool by dedicating funds for the benefit of courageous kids battling to regain their health.  It really is a natural fit for us at IBEW, Local 103, as it is our members who wire these highly-advanced and technical medical facilities and we see the inspirational battles these kids put forth every day.  To be able to provide an opportunity for these kids to have some fun and get their minds off their daily fight for even an hour at a time, we know, makes a big difference for them and their families and we could not be happier to help out in our small way.”

"Starlight Children’s Foundation improves the life and health of kids and families through generous donations from partners like IBEW Local 103 and CBS EcoMedia," said Jacqueline Hart-Ibrahim, Global CEO of Starlight Children’s Foundation. "The gift of Starlight Fun Centers provides critical distraction and therapeutic play for children undergoing treatment. Starlight is proud to work with donors and supporters to raise funds and awareness that directly benefit our partner healthcare facilities who serve millions of kids and families from hospital to home."

To date, more than 7,000 Starlight Fun Centers are being enjoyed by children with chronic illnesses in hospitals across North America.  However, the need is still great and the waiting list to receive a sponsored Starlight Fun Center is long.  Boston Children’s Hospital was on that waiting list before the IBEW Local 103 stepped in to end their wait.

“The positive impact The Starlight Foundation makes on the lives of pediatric patients and their families cannot be underestimated,” said Paul Polizzotto, Founder and President of CBS EcoMedia Inc., “We’re proud to partner with Starlight and IBEW Local 103 to extend the reach to many more children battling life-threatening disease. Thanks to the generous financial support provided by Local 103 through our WellnessAd program, new Starlight Fun Centers will provide some respite, and bring the healing power of play, to the courageous and indomitable kids and their families at Boston Children’s Hospital. This project is just one example of the positive social change made possible as a result of the public-private partnership business model at the core of our WellnessAd, EcoAd, and EducationAd programs.”

About International Brotherhood of Electric Workers, Local 103
The mission of Local 103, I.B.E.W., is a simple one - to provide the most skilled and productive workforce in the world, while at the same time protecting the rights and benefits of every worker.  Our success in training and developing workers who deliver on-time and on-budget projects and foster a safe working environment speaks for itself.  Our members and contractors have been literally lighting the skyline of Eastern Massachusetts for over 100 years.  More recently, Local 103 has become THE industry leader in emerging markets such as Wind Power and Solar Energy.  A number of our contractors have wisely embraced these opportunities and our Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee now offers innovative curriculum in these growing fields.

As we continue to identify and welcome inevitable developments in our core markets, the foundation of our success in training remains unmatched.  Every Local 103 electrician and technician completes the equivalent of five years of schooling and 10,000 hours of field training.  They are back in the classroom for technology updates every 36 months.

Together with the contractors of the Boston Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association, Local 103, I.B.E.W., is extremely proud to maintain the very best workforce in the industry. 

About National Electrical Contractors Association, Boston Chapter
For more than 100 years, the Greater Boston Chapter of NECA and our members have helped build a brighter future for the Greater Boston area and Eastern New England. Representing more than 80 electrical and telecom contractors in Eastern Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire, NECA Boston is dedicated to promoting the highest construction standards through education, management training, skilled workforce training, and labor relations.  Working in partnership with IBEW Local 103 in Boston, NECA Boston and its contractors have an unwavering commitment to bring the highest levels of experience, quality, reliability, and safety to each construction project. The organization takes pride in teaming with the highly skilled electricians and technicians of IBEW Local 103 to be at the forefront of electrical and telecommunications construction – from high voltage power transmission to low voltage systems, from state-of-the-art life safety systems to building energy management systems, and from utility construction to renewable energy projects.

About Starlight Children’s Foundation
Over the past 30 years, Starlight Children’s Foundation has become a leading global charity that partners with experts to improve the life and health of kids and families around the world. Collaborating with innovators in pediatric healthcare, entertainment and technology, Starlight provides a unique blend of family-centered programs and services from hospital to home. Starlight partners with more than 1,750 healthcare facilities and every major pediatric hospital in Australia, Canada, Israel, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, serving millions of children every year. To learn more, visit www.starlight.org, or follow us at facebook.com/StarlightChildrensFoundation and twitter.com/StarlightOnline.

About CBS EcoMedia Inc.
At EcoMedia, we're propelled by the desire to create positive social change; that's been our mission since we founded the company in 2002.  In 2008, after successfully partnering with CBS on a wide range of environmental projects, EcoMedia became the newest addition to the CBS Corporation portfolio, exponentially scaling our reach across television, radio, interactive, publishing and outdoor media. 

Through our patent-pending EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd programs, an innovative twist on traditional advertising, advertisers are able to support much-needed local projects which in turn creates jobs, saves taxpayer money and improves the quality of life in communities nationwide.  In the process, we’re fundamentally altering the advertising landscape, elevating the ordinary, traditional commercial – and media, in general – into a catalyst for tangible, quantifiable social change.  Please visit ecomedia.cbs.com to learn more. 

By participating in EcoMedia’s EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd advertising programs, EcoMedia’s advertisers agree to provide funding for projects we believe will have a beneficial effect upon the environment, health and/or education within local communities.  EcoMedia’s advertising programs are not certification programs nor are the EcoAd, WellnessAd or EducationAd logos seals of approval. EcoMedia does not in any way certify, endorse or make any representations about EcoMedia program advertisers, their products or services.