Microsoft donating $1M in funds and hardware to Right To Play charity

Microsoft and international children’s sport and play charity, Right To Play, have announced a 2012 sponsorship program where Microsoft will provide much-needed funds and products for the charity in the UK as well as abroad. The partnership consists of a cash donation to the charity along with donated hardware and software products valued at $1 million.

Right to Play is a worldwide charitable organization which seeks to improve the lives of children in the most disadvantaged areas of the world using sport and play for "development, health and peace" in order to create a healthier and safer world.

"With Microsoft’s support we will continue to improve the lives of so many children and to spread our message about the power of sport and play to transform lives,” said Johann Olav Koss, president and CEO of Right To Play.

”Our programs teach children important lessons through play about how to protect themselves from disease, how to resolve conflicts peacefully, how to be more tolerant. A simple game of tag is an opportunity to teach children that malaria is passed from person to person through mosquitoes. That Microsoft shares our belief in the value of play makes this partnership a perfect match.”

In addition to cash, hardware and software, Microsoft staff will take part in various fundraising initiatives and integrated marketing activities across the Xbox brand, including:

• Incorporating Right To Play into Xbox’s forthcoming pan-European summer sports campaign on Xbox LIVE
• Undertaking ‘Game with Fame’’ with Right To Play Athlete Ambassadors for fundraising
• In a cause marketing first for Microsoft, Right To Play branding will feature in Kinect Sports: Season Two Basketball DLC (due for release on April 2nd)
• Providing consoles and Xbox-based lessons for Right To Play’s ‘Play Day’ events in underprivileged UK areas.

Geographically, the sponsorship package will support Right To Play programs around the world in more than 20 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America through fundraising offices in the UK, Norway, Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada and the US.

The following communities in these regions will benefit:

• Africa - Benin, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda
• Asia - China, Pakistan, Thailand
• Middle East - Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories (West Bank & Gaza)
• Latin America – Peru
• Pilot Programmes - Canada (First Nation program in Northern Ontario