24-Hours On the Street

Virgin Mobile is a proud sponsor of The Little Red Wagon Foundation's "24-Hours On the Street" event in Brandon, FL on April 25-26, 2008. By spending an entire day (and night) on the street, 50 kids and 10-15 volunteers will have the chance to experience some of the challenges and hardships that homeless young people face every day.

Virgin Mobile Wins The Golden Pen Award

The National Network for Youth, one of the most well respected advocates for homeless youth, recently honored Virgin Mobile with the "Golden Pen Award". This annual award recognizes excellence in reporting on youth issues and was presented to Virgin Mobile for our efforts to raise awareness of homeless youth through The RE*Generation. Past winners include Newsweek for a special report on teen issues, Kazi for his work on The Hip Hop Project, Connie Chung for a documentary on runaway youth, and Judging Amy for the show's sensitive portrayal of homeless and at-risk kids.

Virgin Mobile traveled to Washington, D.C. to accept the award at the National Network for Youth Symposium. This year's winners also included XM Radio's Bob Edwards for his on-air documentary about homeless youth, US Rep. Ruben Hinojosa who is sponsoring the "Place to Call Home" bill, and a handful of other outstanding advocates. It was an amazing experience to be in the company of these champions of homeless youth.

Virgin Mobile wants to share this award with all of our customers. Without you and your concern for homeless youth, we wouldn't be able to make such a positive impact on the national level. Keep it up!

The RE*Generation Gallery 2007 Auction And Benefit

To kickoff National Homeless Youth Awareness Month, Virgin Mobile hosted a five-star benefit gala at Skylight Studios in New York City. Artwork by 21 of today's hottest artists was auctioned off to benefit The RE*Generation's charitable partners and raise awareness around youth homelessness.

The event featured a screening of the compelling documentary about a homeless teen entitled "Carissa". James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem DJ'ed the event, and a special guest appearance was made by Sir Richard Branson.

Send A Letter To Congress

Congress designated last November as National Homeless Youth Awareness Month, but there's still a lot more work to be done. Send a letter to your local member of Congress to ask for their continued support in the fight against youth homelessness. Or, click on one of the links below to learn more about pending legislation affecting homeless youth.

NATIONAL HOMELESS YOUTH AWARENESS MONTH

In April 2007, The RE*Generation Task Force hit Capitol Hill to convince Congress to establish a National Homeless Youth Awareness Month. We met with fourteen different members of Congress and asked them to support legislation that would establish an annual Awareness Month beginning this November.

"Squatter," who became homeless at age 15, captured the attention of everyone we met when he shared his story of living on the streets. Thanks to him and the rest of our Task Force partners, we managed to gain the support of Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA 7th), and Congressman Mike Fergusson (R-NJ 7th).

The resolution was introduced in Congress and passed into law this spring. Check out the House resolution here and the Senate resolution here or check out our press release here. Special thanks to Jewel for helping us announce the passage of the resolution and testifying at the youth homelessness hearing!

Please check out the National Homeless Youth Awareness Month page for a list of ways that you can help.

NINE YEAR-OLD TAKES INCREDIBLE STEPS TO HELP HOMELESS TEENS

Zach Bonner, a nine year-old boy from Florida, has pledged to walk 246 miles across his state in honor of National Homeless Youth Awareness Month! If he can walk across Florida, the least you can do is make a donation. Check out his Web site at www.littleredwagonfoundation.com to learn about Zach and pledge your support.

THE RE*GENERATION SUPPORTS "THE CARISSA PROJECT"

The RE*Generation is a proud partner of The Carissa Project, an eye-opening documentary short about Carissa Phelps by filmmaker David Sauvage.

Abandoned at the age of 12, Carissa was homeless and forced into the hidden world of child prostitution. She faced abuse, rape, and an unsympathetic justice system all before the age of 13.

Now an adult with dual law and MBA degrees from UCLA, Carissa is partnering with The RE*Generation to help homeless kids, and the people that work with them. She hopes that her life inspires others to achieve their full potential.

Carissa knows firsthand that many vulnerable children in the U.S. have been taken hold by a child sex industry that has been ignored for too long. To learn more about Carissa, her outreach efforts, and and the documentary, visit www.carissaproject.com or check out our press release.

TXT2CLOTHE

In November 2006, The RE*Generation teamed up with American Eagle Outfitters and StandUp For Kids on a mission to help clothe homeless youth. We set a goal of donating 68,405 items of clothing to kids living on the streets. We're happy to announce that we surpassed that goal as of April 2007! With your help, thousands of homeless kids now have some nice, new clothes.

We've set a new goal of donating 112,007 items of clothing in honor of the inaugural National Homeless Youth Awareness Month happening this November. And we're thrilled to have Levi Strauss Signature join us as a new Txt2Clothe partner to help fulfill our goal! But we still need your help. Help clothe a homeless teen right now by texting the word "KARMA" to 68405. Thanks!

Check out the press release here.

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THE RE*GENERATION GALLERY ARTWORK DEBUTS AT THE 2007 VIRGIN FESTIVAL BY VIRGIN MOBILE

The RE*Generation rolled out in full force at Virgin Festival by Virgin Mobile in Baltimore on August 4 and 5. The Festival featured The RE*Generation Gallery artwork from over twenty artists in The RE*Generation dome at the festival. Festival goers also had the opportunity to meet representatives from The RE*Generation's charitable partners and learn from the experts how they can help homeless youth. Check out the press release here.

You can also see The RE*Generation Gallery artwork for yourself and bid online for artwork here.

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THE 2007 VIRGIN FESTIVAL BY VIRGIN MOBILE GOES GREEN

This year, the Virgin Festival by Virgin Mobile made a commitment to come as close to being a ZERO-WASTE EVENT as possible.

Here are a few of the green initiatives you may have seen at the 2007 Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile:

• Mobile "Green Team" to educate and assist attendees with waste diversion.
• Waste-reclamation stations — food composting and full-service recycling.
• Biodegradable/compostable food-service items — plates, cups, cutlery, napkins, and others.
• Environmentally responsible products. Everything from organic printing inks to compostable trash bags.
• Clean energy — biodiesel generators, solar recharging stations, and much more.
• Donations of reusable and surplus items to local charities.
• Offsetting energy we couldn't reduce or "green," such as office use and production flights.
• Multiple options for mass transit to and from Pimlico.
• Reduced emissions and far less trash overall.

Check out the press release here.

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