Tampa, FL – Students at the Villa Madonna School in Tampa were treated to a day of Magic thanks to a unique national promotion co-sponsored by Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope, a charitable program benefiting children, and Best Buy, the nation’s leading specialty retailer of consumer electronics products. Legendary basketball superstar, Magic Johnson took center court on May 11th to discuss the importance of performance, education, and technology with the Villa Madonna School during a special “One-on-One with Magic” basketball mentoring session with the school’s eighth grade graduating class. Following this session Magic played the promotion’s winning basketball game with some of the students and the Best Buy employees
The promotion, which ran in Best Buy’s U.S. stores from March 13 to April 2 supports the Magic Johnson Foundation in their efforts to enrich the lives of children through education. Magic’s foundation is an integral part of Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope and has raised over $1.1 million for community education and technology initiatives.
“Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope is committed to giving back to the community and we are proud to continue our relationship with the Magic Johnson Foundation for a third year. We share a common goal to motivate, encourage and offer children in urban communities the support needed for a bigger and brighter future,” said Peter Weedfald, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Consumer Electronics & North American Corporate Marketing, Samsung Electronics America, Inc. “We at Samsung are proud to cheer for the Best Buy employees who personally contributed to raising funds for Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope and will enjoy this exciting, once-in-a-lifetime event with Magic Johnson for the Villa Madonna students in Tampa, Florida.”
”Samsung and Magic Johnson share Best Buy’s passion for kids, education, technology and, most importantly, serving communities. For the third-straight year, we’re collaborating to impact communities in fun, unique and meaningful ways – that’s exciting for us,” said Mike Linton, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Best Buy.
Now in its fourth year, Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope is an innovative philanthropy program that combines the forces of major national retailers with sports and music legends to benefit children and communities in need. Basketball’s Magic Johnson is joined by football’s Boomer Esiason, baseball’s Joe Torre, golf’s Arnold Palmer, and music’s Jon Bon Jovi – for a unique, retail program that aims to improve the quality of life for children and their families.
For more information about Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope, please visit our website at www.fourseasonsofhope.com.
About Samsung Electronics America, Inc.
Headquartered in Ridgefield Park, NJ, Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (SEA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., markets a broad range of award-winning, advanced digital consumer electronics, information systems and telecommunications products. The SEA organization oversees the North American operations of Samsung’s Consumer Electronics Division, Information Technology Division, Samsung Telecommunications America, Samsung Electronics Canada and Samsung Electronics Mexico. Please visit www.samsung.com for more information.
About Samsung Electronics SAMSUNG Electronics Co., Ltd.
is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologieswith 2003 parent company sales of US$36.4 billion and net income of US$5.0 billion. Employing approximately 88,000 people in 89 offices in 46 countries, the company consists of six main business units: Corporate Technology Operations, Digital Appliance Business, Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business and Telecommunication Network Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is the world’s largest producer of color monitors, color TVs,memory chips, TFT-LCDs and VCRs.
About the Magic Johnson Foundation
The Magic Johnson Foundation was established in 1991 as a single-disease organization that worked to raise funds for community-based organizations dealing with HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs. The Foundation has since responded to the growing need to address the major health issues affecting people of color including prostate cancer, hypertension, youth obesity and diabetes. In addition to health programs, MJF also provides programs to meet the educational needs of urban residents. The programs include scholarships and technology grants to individuals and community-based organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to the communities in which they serve.
About Best Buy’s Community Connection
As partners in our communities, Best Buy works to encourage ideas and confront challenges. Through its many philanthropic activities, Best Buy extends its support in times of celebration and in times of need. Last year Best Buy and the Best Buy Children’s Foundation donated more than $14 million to its communities (approximately 1.5 percent of its annual pretax earnings). The company encourages local volunteerism by providing charitable gifts to organizations where its employees volunteer, awards annual scholarships to graduating high-school seniors and supports schools using technology to enhance learning through the Best Buy te@ch program. Through the Best Buy Children’s Foundation, the company also connects with the United Way to meet local community needs, works with the Red Cross to provide support in times of disaster and supports national organizations innovatively using technology in youth education. In addition, Best Buy is committed environmental responsibility. Last year, the company collected and recycled nearly 1 million pounds of used and obsolete electronic items though special mass collection events and everyday collection of cellular phones, ink jet cartridges and rechargeable batteries. For more information about Best Buy’s community relations efforts, visit www.bestbuy.com/communityrelations.
