DISABILITY AWARENESS MONTH
More than 19 percent of Indiana's adults and children are living with some type of disability. This March, the Colts and the Indiana Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities are honoring those individuals and promoting inclusion, independence and employment for them.

The theme for the 2008 Disability Awareness Month campaign is “Attitude is Everything.” As a part of this initiative, the Colts are sponsoring posters and bookmarks, featuring this message, which will be distributed to hundreds of organizations across Indiana. These materials, along with activity planning packets, are available at no charge to encourage communities to plan activities surrounding disability awareness.

“Disability Awareness Month is the perfect time for every aspect of the community to come together to organize events. From businesses to government and schools to faith-based organizations, everyone is welcome to participate,” said Suellen Jackson-Boner, executive director of the Council. “This is a wonderful opportunity for people to organize awareness fairs, ADA training, policy seminars, essay and art contests, and displays in schools, government agencies and businesses.”

The Indianapolis Colts encourage Hoosiers to join them in celebrating those living with disabilities by participating in community activities or hosting their own event. For more information on Disability Awareness Month, or to find out how you can order some of the complimentary materials provided by the Colts, log onto www.in.gov/gpcpd.

About the Indiana Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities
The Indiana Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities, which focuses on advocacy and leadership training, began in 1980 and has flourished in the areas of systems change advocacy, self-advocacy groups, Partners in Policymaking, grassroots efforts, community leadership, public policy and civic engagement. Over the past 25 years, the Council has empowered tens of thousands of Hoosiers with disabilities to create positive change throughout the state.

COLTS WIN NATIONAL AWARD
The Indiana Blood Center and Indianapolis Colts ongoing partnership to attract blood donors earned national recognition on February 5 at America’s Blood Centers (ABC) annual convention in New York. The trade organization of independent blood centers honored the team with an Award of Excellence for the Most Productive Drive of the Year among the country’s largest blood centers.

The Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Blood Center earned the award for the success of the Super Blue blood drive, hosted after the team won the AFC Championship and before the Indianapolis franchise’s first-ever trip to the Super Bowl in January 2007. The Colts lent their media spotlight and fan frenzy to Indiana Blood Center for a three-day blood drive that drew 3,624 donors. Fans, clamoring for any opportunity to be part of Colts mania, donated at 14 Indiana Blood Center locations and received a t-shirt tagged “Heed the Stampede,” perfectly positioned alongside the AFC Championship logo.

“The Colts organization believes strongly in our commitment to the Indiana Blood Center because it allows the team and our fans to make a positive impact in communities throughout the State,” said Nicole Duncan, executive director of community relations for the Indianapolis Colts. “Because Indiana Blood Center collects and supplies donated blood to Indiana hospitals, we are able to connect with fans from Evansville to Muncie and nearly everywhere in between.”

The Indiana Blood Center and the Indianapolis Colts first partnered in 2000 to entice blue and white fans to donate blood. Since then, the team is credited with attracting 27,614 of their Colts fans to become donors to Indiana Blood Center through such campaigns as the annual Bleed Blue Blood Drive held each December, the Make It Personal Tour in the summer of 2007 and Blue Friday promotions during the football season.

“The Indianapolis Colts are a world-class organization and a true asset to our State,” said Byron Buhner, president and CEO of Indiana Blood Center. “Earning the top honor among blood drives nationally for their efforts in Indiana proves that the Colts believe being champions in their community is just as important as being champions on the field.”

READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY
On Friday, February 29 and Monday, March 3, as a part of their Blue Ribbon Literacy Campaign, the Colts celebrated Read Across America Day with visits to three Indianapolis schools.
Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program created by the National Education Association. It takes place every year on or around the birthday of Theodore Seuss Geiseel, also known as Dr. Seuss.

To kick off the celebration on Friday, Colts WR Roy Hall teamed up with First Book, a non-profit organization that provides books for low-income families, to distribute 1,250 books to students at Washington Irving Elementary.
Colts Mascot Blue then joined Hall on Monday for visits to Julian D. Coleman Middle School and College Park Elementary.

At Coleman Middle, the students waited anxiously for the guests, erupting into applause when the pair entered the gymnasium. Following the warm welcome, Hall read “Horton Hatches an Egg” by Dr. Seuss aloud as Blue helped pantomime the action of the story.

“Read Across America is really in recognition of Dr. Seuss,” Coleman Principal Debra Barlowe said. “It's targeted at urban children, to involve them and help them understand that reading is paramount.”

Students and teachers alike enjoyed the performance, laughing and clapping throughout. Afterwards, each class was given the opportunity to sit on the bleachers with Blue and Hall for a photo.

“When athletes are involved, it shows how important reading is,” Barlowe added. “I'm glad the Colts took the time to come to our school.

“It’s nice to have someone in the sports arena be involved in Read Across America.”

For the final stop of the day, Hall and Blue enjoyed lunch, provided by Penn Station, with Mrs. Angela Hampton’s first grade class at College Park Elementary. The class recently received an award of 1,000 books from Scholastic after submitting an entry nominating their schoolmates as worthy recipients of the books.

For more information on the Colts Blue Ribbon Literacy Campaign, visit www.colts.com/literacy.

2008 COLTS CHEERLEADER AUDITIONS
The Indianapolis Colts are in search of the first Colts Cheerleaders Squad to perform in front of the more than 63,000 fans in the new Lucas Oil Stadium. Cheerleader Audition workshops to be held at the Indianapolis Colts Training Facility are March 18 and 25 as well as April 1 and 8. Regional audition workshops will be held in Ft. Wayne on March 19 and in Louisville, Ky. on March 30.

Official auditions to become a Colts Cheerleader begin on April 12.

Benefits to becoming a Colts Cheerleader:
o Be a part of Indianapolis’ premier sports entertainment group
o Serve as team ambassadors at community events throughout Indiana
o Opportunities for nationwide and wo