Philanthropy Comes to Times Square with Jumbotron Billboard Featuring Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize Winners

Visitors to Times Square are seeing something unexpected when they encounter a jumbo LED screen beneath the giant blue CBS Eye on 42nd Street. Instead of the usual movie or product digital billboard media, a million or more passersby will see video clips of the work of 16 organizations serving people in need around the world (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6OKGOOvG24).The digital billboard time had been abandoned by a previous advertiser and Neutron Media decided to donate the unused billboard time to 16 organizations that are changing the world -- the 16 non-profit organizations that have won the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize. The billboard will be on display until July 8. The content was funded by a        grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation that awards the annual prize of $1.5 million, largest in the humanitarian world, to an organization that is doing extraordinary work to alleviate human suffering.

“Our Hilton Prize winners dedicate their lives to helping the most vulnerable in our world. They are incredibly deserving of this recognition,” said Judy Miller, vice president of the Hilton Foundation and Director of the Hilton Prize. “We hope those who see their names and work on the billboard will consider supporting these worthy organizations. You can be confident that each and every prize winner has met the highest standards of accountability and transparency.”

The Hilton Prize winners, or Hilton Prize Laureates, are recognized leaders in the humanitarian world and include: Handicap International (France) 2011; Aravind Eye Care System (India) 2010; PATH (Washington), 2009; BRAC (Bangladesh), 2008; Tostan (Senegal), 2007; Women for Women International (Washington, DC), 2006; Partners In Health        (Massachusetts), 2005; Heifer International (Arkansas), 2004; International Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims (Denmark), 2003; SOS Children’s Villages (Austria), 2002; St. Christopher’s Hospice (United Kingdom), 2001; Casa Alianza (Costa Rica), 2000; African Medical and Research Foundation (Kenya), 1999; Doctors Without Borders (France),        1998; International Rescue Committee (New York), 1997; and Operation Smile (Virginia), 1996.

The Hilton Prize Laureates have been working together informally for several years but recently created a formal alliance with a Secretariat in Washington, D.C. led by PATH, one of the prize winners. The Laureates aim to collaborate on projects, share knowledge and resources, and seek ways to provide services more efficiently and effectively. Currently eight of them are working together in Haiti.

“This is a terrific opportunity for us to shine a light on these great organizations,” said Ray Shapira, vice president, Neutron Media. “If this ad generates one smile for a child, a well in Africa or a new leg for a landmine victim, we will be overjoyed.”

Neutron Media is a full service marketing firm that operates an advertising based network of outdoor multimedia L.E.D. display screens in high traffic areas. Neutron Media leverages strategic partner relationships with organizers of high profiled events to offer advertisers unique branding opportunities.