Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families to visit and entertain hundreds of military families stationed at 19 military bases in six countries
Arlington, Va. (Sept. 5, 2017) – This fall, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, Rosita and other furry friends from Sesame Street will embark on a two-month USO tour to military installations throughout Europe.
The 2017 Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families will perform more than 30 shows at 19 military bases in six countries; each 30-minute costumed character performance will center around the challenges military families face on a regular basis, including frequent moves and the military-to-civilian transition.
The tour will kick off on Sept. 11 at NAS Sigonella in Italy before journeying to Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Spain, wrapping up in mid-November.
“Since 2006, the Sesame Street/USO tour has brought to life the resources we’ve developed to help military families navigate the unique challenges they face,” said Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, Sesame Workshop’s Senior Vice President of U.S. Social Impact.
“Sesame Workshop is proud to continue our longstanding partnership with the USO, employing our early childhood expertise and beloved Sesame Street characters to support and celebrate military kids and families as they learn, heal and grow.”
Sesame Workshop and the USO know that when one family member serves, the whole family serves, which is why they partnered to create Katie, a special character who models the real-life experiences of today’s military children.
In the military-to-civilian transition show, “Katie’s Family Transitions to Civilian Life,” military families will follow Katie as she starts a new adventure outside of the military, confident that her family and all her Sesame Street pals will be there to support her throughout the transition.
The tour will also perform “Katie is Moving to a New Base,” which explores the feelings of uncertainty and excitement that come with moving to a new place. To best suit the needs of military families overseas, each installation will be given the chance to determine which show is performed on their base, with some installations opting for both.
“There is no better time to kick off our ninth-year run of the Sesame Street/USO tour than on Patriot Day – a day the USO is encouraging Americans everywhere to connect with service members by sending them a message of support at uso.org/Reflect,” said Lorie Hennessey, USO’s Senior Vice President of Entertainment.
“We are incredibly grateful for our collaboration with Sesame Workshop and look forward to supporting hundreds more military families this year.”
The Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families has toured the globe since July 2008, making it the longest-running traveling tour in the USO’s 76-year history.
Based on Sesame Workshop’s award-winning Sesame Street for Military Families initiative, the tour has performed more than 1,100 shows on 150 military installations in 33 states and 11 countries and distributed more than 2.8 million outreach materials, entertaining nearly 600,000 service members and military families through the magic of song, dance and beloved characters.
To learn more about this year’s tour, including upcoming tour stops visit uso.org/Sesame.
To learn more about military family resources and programming visit sesamestreetformilitaryfamilies.org and USO.org.
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About the USO:
The USO strengthens America’s military service members by keeping them connected to family, home and country, throughout their service to the nation. At hundreds of locations worldwide, we are united in our commitment to connect our service members and their families through countless acts of caring, comfort and support. The USO is a private, nonprofit organization, not a government agency. Our programs, services and entertainment tours are made possible by the American people, support of our corporate partners and the dedication of our volunteers and staff.
In addition to individual donors and corporate sponsors, the USO is supported by President’s Circle Partners: AT&T, Bob & Dolores Hope Foundation, Clark Construction Group, LLC, The Coca-Cola Company, FedEx, Jeep, Johnson & Johnson, Kroger, NFL, Southern New Hampshire University and Four-Star Partners: Altria, BIC, ConAgra Foods, GEICO, Harris Teeter, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, TKS, USAA and the Wawa Foundation. We are also supported through the United Way and Combined Federal Campaign (CFC-11381). To join us in this important mission, and to learn more about the USO, please visit uso.org.
About Sesame Workshop:
Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit media and educational organization behind Sesame Street, the pioneering television show that has been reaching and teaching children since 1969. Today, Sesame Workshop is an innovative force for change, with a mission to help kids everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. We’re active in more than 150 countries, serving vulnerable children through a wide range of media, formal education, and philanthropically-funded social impact programs, each grounded in rigorous research and tailored to the needs and cultures of the communities we serve. For more information, please visit sesameworkshop.org.
