Innovative program helps protect children from home accidents.

MIAMI, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Steve Monahan, regional vice-president for the Allstate Insurance Company, today announced that the ARISE Foundation is the 1998 Florida recipient of the Allstate Safety Leadership Award (ASLA).

ARISE Foundation's 1997-98 programs and safety events have impacted the lives of over 114,000 children, providing them with the knowledge necessary to prevent unintentional injuries and deaths. For the past 12 years, ARISE has educated children from PreK to 12th grade, primarily in inner-city neighborhoods, on how to survive in their often dangerous surroundings.

"At Allstate, we're proud to be safety advocates," said Monahan. "But no one organization or individual can do it alone. We need partners with great ideas, commitment, and dedication. We have such a partner in the ARISE Foundation."

Annually, more children die from home accidents (suffocation, fire, drowning, poisoning, and unintentional firearm injuries) than from all childhood diseases combined.

"We are so proud of the recognition this award brings to ARISE," said Edmund F. Benson, co-founder of the ARISE Foundation. "Annually, nearly 7,000 children die from unintentional injuries and more than 120,000 are permanently disabled. With Allstate's help, we will reduce those tragic numbers and give our children the knowledge to protect them from harm."

The Secrets of Success (SOS) Little-by-Little program established in 1991, and the SOS Best Citizen Builders program established in 1986, reach approximately 1,500 high-risk students each week in Miami-Dade elementary schools and Head Start facilities -- in economically deprived neighborhoods -- with nearly 2,000 hours of life-skills instruction.

"There is no mission more important than protecting our children," said Allstate's Monahan. "The ARISE Foundation's mission has focused on making the world safe for children through implementation of its SOS life-skills training programs."

The programs are taught by volunteers or mentors from local high schools, colleges, or universities. Lessons specifically address safety issues such as lead awareness, electrical, water and fire safety, food labels, poison prevention, stranger safety, and seatbelt use.

Each lesson is taught via an award-winning manual and includes parent take-home activity pages to educate the entire family. While all lesson plans and event materials were created by ARISE, during the 1997-98 program year the ARISE Foundation worked closely with 20 community organizations in coordinating safety events.

In addition to administering its elementary school programs, ARISE partners with organizations within Metro-Dade County, including its police, parks and recreation, environmental resources departments, public schools, the University of Miami School of Medicine and Jackson Memorial Hospital. ARISE and its partners coordinate special events to educate children and adults on crucial safety issues such as poison prevention, stranger safety, and lead poisoning awareness.

Attending the Allstate Safety Leadership Award (ASLA) presentation were representatives from the Mayor's Office, Miami-Dade Police Department, City of Miami Police Department, and the Dade County Public School System. In addition, Dr. Richard Weisman, Director of the Poison Information Center and Diane Paschal, Principal of Henry Reeves Elementary School, along with second grade students, took part in the event.

The Allstate Safety Leadership Award (ASLA) is the highest public honor given by Allstate Insurance Company. Allstate sponsors the annual award program to support successful home, auto, and personal safety initiatives and inspire others to take a leadership role in the safety arena.

Allstate Insurance Company is the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurance company, insuring one of every eight homes and automobiles in the country. The company provides insurance for more than 20 million customers and has approximately 15,000 agents in the U.S. and Canada.

For additional information on the Allstate Safety Leadership Award, or to be placed on the mailing list for next year's nomination packet, call 850-574-2412.