PUMA and Peace One Day Will Celebrate International Day of Peace with Football Star David Bentley in London
PUMA is a major supporter of the non-profit organization “Peace One Day” founded by Jeremy Gilley in 1999. Peace One Day, together with PUMA, will raise awareness for September 21st, Peace Day, at a star-studded celebration in London’s Royal Albert Hall. A special screening of Jeremy Gilley’s new acclaimed documentary, ‘The Day After Peace’, will be followed by performances by Annie Lennox, Bryan Adams and John Legend. Footballer David Bentley from Premier League club Tottenham Hotspurs will also take the stage to announce the football matches played around the world in honor of Peace Day. Proceeds of the celebration will go to assist the organization to raise awareness of Peace Day, September 21st annually, and manifest life saving activities on the Day.
In September 2007, PUMA announced a long-term partnership with the British non-profit organization Peace One Day at Peace One Day’s gala hosted at London’s Royal Albert Hall. PUMA’s commitment was based on the organizations’ shared values such as inclusiveness, leadership, passion, and willingness to push boundaries. Filmmaker, Jeremy Gilley began Peace One Day (POD) as a film project to establish an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence. In 2001 Peace One Day’s efforts were rewarded when the United Nations unanimously adopted the first-ever day of global ceasefire and non-violence on September 21st annually – Peace Day.
“We support the aim of Peace One Day and want to make a contribution to the generation of global peace on one day,” said Jochen Zeitz, PUMA CEO and Chairman, “We are delighted to be a strong and long-term partner of this exemplary initiative.”
To help raise visibility and awareness of Peace Day, PUMA launched the PUMA Peace One Day Football Collection, which was unveiled at the African Cup of Nations in January 2008. PUMA’s established relationships with its African football teams ensured this exciting football collection was seen on some of Africa’s leading players throughout the tournament. The collection consists of specifically designed footballs and accessory items, which have been available in PUMA retail stores world wide since May 2008. A portion of the profits generated by the collection will be donated to POD. PUMA’s long-term goal is to source all products related to this collection in Africa.
The first ‘ONE DAY ONE GOAL’ match was also initiated during the January 2008 activities in Ghana. Through this collaborative initiative, PUMA and Peace One Day have asked people around the world to play football on September 21st, with each match celebrating cooperation, unity and the power of football to bring people together in peace. The aim of the ‘ONE DAY ONE GOAL’ initiative is to encourage people to play football all over the world, whether in major stadiums, local pitches, in the streets, on the beach, in the office, at home – it doesn’t matter. Over 150 matches are expected to take place in countries across the globe in honor of the Day, many supported by PUMA sponsored club teams and top talent.
As a direct result of Peace One Day’s campaign in 2007, parties in Afghanistan recognized Peace Day resulting in 1.4 million Afghanistan children being vaccinated against polio. Last year, 100 million people in 200 countries were engaged in Peace Day activities and in 14 of those countries, efforts were targeted towards providing life-saving activities and medical services on the Day. PUMA has worked alongside Peace One Day since 2007 and has developed a Peace One Day collection of products available in stores in September to benefit the non-profit organization.
For more information on PEACE ONE DAY, visit www.peaceoneday.org and for global stockist information, please visit our websitewww.puma.com
