Compassion Teams With Big Idea Productions

Compassion International
Thursday, 16 August 2001

VeggieTales' Larry and Bob to share what it means to be compassionate

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. August 16, 2001—Compassion is teaming with Big Idea Productions, creators of the popular VeggieTales video series, to teach kids what it means to be compassionate. On a recent trip to the Dominican Republic, VeggieTales characters Larry and Bob were filmed interacting with children who are assisted through Compassion and its church partners. The video segment, which will be used in the 2002 VBS curriculum, Jonah: An Overboard Adventure! Learning to Walk in God's Way, focuses on children and poverty and teaches kids to show compassion by helping needy children.

According to Cindy Kenney, senior editor for Big Idea Productions, "Over 500,000 children and families from all denominations will participate in Jonah: An Overboard Adventure! One lesson of the program encourages participants to learn about and practice compassion in their everyday lives. Partnering with Compassion International is a wonderful opportunity to personalize this important message and make an impact around the world for children in need."

"This is the first time that Big Idea Productions has chosen to affiliate with a specific mission organization," said Rich Van Pelt, Compassion's director of strategic relationships, "and we are so pleased that they want to tell this story through Compassion's child development work. The video will be used to help kids embrace values of caring and sharing."

Led by Van Pelt, a production crew and representatives from Big Idea spent five days visiting Compassion projects in and around the capital city of Santo Domingo. Located on the coast of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, Santo Domingo is a hub for many of Compassion's projects in the Dominican Republic. Compassion has set up projects in those communities in order to help the children living there. Van Pelt took the group to visit several of these projects and to see the impact that Compassion's work is having on the families in these "squatter" villages.

"It was moving to watch Larry and Bob interact with the Compassion-assisted children at the projects," said Van Pelt.

Big Idea Productions is a family media company committed to providing entertainment that helps parents teach today's children timeless lessons and values from the Bible. With more than 22 million VeggieTales videos and another 2 million VeggieTunes albums sold since 1993, Big Idea is recognized as the leading producer and creator of values-based products in the children's entertainment industry. Sunday morning values, Saturday morning fun! That's a big idea!

Founded in 1952, Compassion is an evangelical Christian not-for-profit organization dedicated to the long-term holistic development of children living in poverty. Working with numerous denominations and indigenous churches in about 2,200 church-based projects, Compassion is reaching out to nearly 400,000 children in 22 countries, including the United States.

For more information, or to contact Compassion International, see their website at: www.compassion.com