REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 23, 2007 — The new Xbox 360 console and more than 200 educational games and entertainment programs in English and Spanish are being released nationwide, and to mark the occasion, Microsoft Corp. is making a donation for the benefit of Spanish-speaking and low-income families. Every community service center on Skid Row in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California operated by the nonprofit organization Para Los Niños is being equipped with two Xbox 360 Arcade consoles that include five games, a wireless controller, a 256MB memory unit and parental controls to help parents or caregivers monitor use of the console.
“Families, regardless of income or background, are entitled to enjoy games, movies, TV shows and music together,” said Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of global marketing for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “The holidays are a perfect time to reinforce the importance of child-parent relations and the value of family entertainment at home, so we are delighted to recognize this extraordinary nonprofit organization serving low-income and predominantly Hispanic families.”
Gisselle Acevedo, chief executive officer and president of Para Los Niños, added, “We are grateful to Microsoft for providing us with the newest and most family-friendly video game products with which to better serve our children, youth and adults who have limited means but enormous potential and drive to succeed. The gift of 50 Xbox 360 Arcade consoles, plus access to educational games and entertainment programs in Spanish and English, will provide each of our centers with an even more enriching and entertaining experience for our clients to enjoy.”
The donation to Para Los Niños is part of a major push by Microsoft to include more families in the Xbox 360 experience. More than any other next-generation video game console on the market, the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft now offers a wide variety of fun-for-all content with more than 700 episodes of TV shows specifically for the family available for purchase on Xbox LIVE Marketplace and more than 200 family-friendly games the whole household can enjoy.
About Para Los Niños
Operating in Los Angeles since 1980, Para Los Niños now assists 3,500 low-income children each day and 5,000 families every year from 24 sites throughout Southern California. Para Los Niños’ core services include child development and education, a Charter School (K–5), after-school enrichment, youth diversion and delinquency prevention, transitioning foster youth, and youth workforce services. In addition, Para Los Niños offers support to at-risk families, including child abuse prevention and intervention, mental health services and comprehensive family support.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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