Community Corner

Tony and Lauren Dungy to Raise Adoption Awareness at Super Bowl

Super Bowl party organizers are encouraged to download a free video kit featuring the winning Super Bowl coach to share on game day with party guests.

As football fans gather today to watch the Giants take on the Patriots, winning Super Bowl Coach Tony Dungy is hoping to spread a personal message in households across the country.

A free downloadable video kit is available online for local game-watching party organizers, which features Coach , an Edgeworth native and former Edgeworth Elementary teacher. 

The couple, who have adopted, will greet thousands of football fans entering the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for with a 30-second public service announcement they recorded. Their personal appeal frames the current orphan crisis and the need for broader adoption awareness.

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The Dungys are involved with The Adoption Journey Project, a group of organizations working to encourage more couples to consider adoption.

The ad will play on the electronic billboard at Lucas Oil Stadium where football fans will enter the stadium for the Big Game. It is scheduled to reach Super Bowl attendees over the course of 15 hours on Super Sunday.  

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"The big win on Super Sunday would be to raise awareness about the millions of children who need a family," Tony Dungy said in a news release. "I would love to see thousands of local community groups and circles of friends gathering together to stop and consider how they can help."

The Dungys have roots in Western Pennsylvania. Lauren grew up in Edgeworth and taught sixth grade at the elementary school. Dungy, a former Pittsburgh Steelers player and assistant coach, made history on Feb. 4, 2007 when as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts,  he  the Super Bowl, becoming the first black coach to do so. 

Tony and Lauren Dungy were in  last year ahead of Super Bowl XLV to promote reading to   and their children's book, "You Can Be A Friend." The book teaches children about practicing tolerance and acceptance of others' differences.

Marc Andreas, vice president of marketing at Bethany Christian Services, the largest adoption agency in the country, said more than 100,000 children are in need of a stable and loving family in the United States.

"If just a fraction of groups gathering to watch the Big Game influences just one family to adopt, we would make a huge dent in this social crisis," Andreas said.

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To watch the Tony & Lauren Dungy PSA Video, click here.

To download and play the TV Watch Party Organizers video, go to www.AdoptionJourney.org/dungyhalftime 

Resource site for couples beginning to consider adoption: www.AdoptionJourney.org


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