Fred Rogers Productions, children’s media organisation behind multiple Emmy Award-winning series, has once again secured a grant from the Bezos Family Foundation. The funding supports Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, the hit animated preschool series now celebrating its 10th anniversary on PBS KIDS, and FRP activities in partnership with Vroom, a program of the Bezos Family Foundation that supports adults with science-based tips and tools for successful parenting. This latest grant, the fourth for Fred Rogers Productions, covers a two-year period running through 2023.
Fred Rogers Productions presidents and CEO Paul Siefken said, “We have a terrific partner in Vroom, which like Fred Rogers Productions is dedicated to supporting families and to helping ensure a bright future for young children. We’re so pleased to extend our collaboration and continue this important work together.”
The partnership between the Bezos Family Foundation and Fred Rogers Productions began in 2016.
For the first time, the grant awards Fred Rogers Productions with funds to develop resources for caregivers as well as organisations and professionals using Vroom, including childcare, healthcare, and family services organisations. The company will create a collection of video clips from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood to model for adults how they can make any moment a brain-building one for their children.
As part of the partnership, Vroom will underwrite 15-second promotional videos that will bookend each broadcast episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and precede streaming episodes. The videos will empower parents and caregivers by modelling nurturing interactions with children during every day routines. The spots show ways to make shared activities like mealtime, bath time, and bedtime more meaningful and fun and more conducive to helping children learn and thrive.
The videos will also raise awareness of Vroom, which provides tools and resources to parents and caregivers via tips and activities that highlight the science behind early brain development. Age-based content is delivered through the Vroom app available on the Apple and Google Play stores as well as any web browser, via Vroom by Text, and through downloadable materials on Vroom.org.
Vroom coordinator with the Mississippi Thrive! Child Health Development Project Heather Martin said, “Vroom works best when introduced by a trusted messenger and parents appreciate Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. When families hear about Vroom again from their teacher, doctor, social worker, or other community members, they know that it’s something they can trust.”
Each episode of the Emmy-winning Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood showcases two engaging stories starring four-year-old Daniel Tiger, his family, and friends, who invite viewers to join them on fun adventures as they explore the colourful Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Using irresistible musical strategies reinforces the unique theme of every show, so preschoolers and parents can sing along and incorporate them into their daily lives. Executive producers are 9 Story Media Group CCO Angela C. Santomero; Fred Rogers Productions CCO Ellen Doherty, 9 Story Media Group president and CEO Vince Commisso.
The series has garnered a host of prestigious awards, including a 2019 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Preschool Children’s Animated Series; 2020 Parents’ Choice Gold Award for Television; 2018 Common Sense Media Seal of Approval; and the Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming by the Television Critics Association in 2016.