Cuties, the brand that pioneered California-grown mandarins, teamed up with After-School All-Stars (ASAS) — the leading national provider of daily, comprehensive tuition-free academic, fitness and enrichment programs for underserved families after-school — to deliver a special holiday gift to kids enrolled in the program at Bowman Ashe/Doolin K-8 Academy in West Kendall.
Cuties joined Y100’s Jingle Ball concert tour at the BB&T Center in Sunsrise recently to introduce the concert series’ first ever Cuties correspondents, Ayden and Ryan Soria, two brothers from Los Angeles. Ryan and Ayden were selected after submitting a video about what kindness means to them through Cuties’ 100 Days of Sunshine contest promoted during ON with Mario Lopez and Ryan Seacrest’s AT Top 40.
During the concert, Ryan and Ayden asked artists and celebrities from the popular tour to sign a custom-designed Buddy Bench. Buddy Benches were created by an elementary student in Pennsylvania to help foster friendship on the playground. Students sit on the bench when they’re looking for a friend with ehom to talk or play. Artists at the Jingle Ball tour — including Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Halsey, Charlie Puth and Logic — signed the bench and added personal messages of encouragement to After-School All-Star students.
“Cuties is on a mission to spread positivity and sunshine during California Cuties season, from November through April,” said Howard Nager, vice president of marketing and business development at Sun Pacific, the grower and shipper of Cuties. “We’re thrilled that together with iHeart Radio and After-School All-Stars, we’ll be able to give All-Star students at Bowman Ashe/Doolin a very special reminder to share sweetness all year long with our Cuties Buddy Bench and pledge to provide healthy snacks to all the students enrolled in ASAS programs in South Florida.”
Cuties and Y100 DJ Frankie P donated the Buddy Bench on Monday at Bowman Ashe/Doolin, one of 400 After-School All-Star school sites nationwide. Cuties also announced it would donate a season’s worth of fruit to the 2,000 students enrolled in the program locally.
According to the Afterschool Alliance, making after-school meals available helps combat the hunger and food insecurity that affects more than 15 million children in the United States.
“We are honored to partner with Cuties’ and iHeart Radio to support the wellbeing and good nutrition of our students,” said Natalia Sol of After-School All-Stars. “Our programs teach kids the value of kindness and inclusion, and the Cuties Buddy Bench will reinforce those values and serve as a reminder for students to continue to spread positivity and sweetness in their community.”
For more information about After-School All-Stars of South Florida, visit AfterSchoolAllStars.org. To learn more about Buddy Benches and how you can implement one at your school, visit BuddyBench.org.
