WUCF TV, Central Florida’s PBS station, honors superheroes in the community on National Superhero Day by expanding its award-winning series, Meet The Helpers. This initiative celebrates important community helpers with the goal of teaching children about different people who help keep them safe.
Newly released videos include a mental health counselor, a youth helper, a line worker, and a scientist who discusses the importance of vaccines. Previous videos in this series include firefighters, police officers, teachers, doctors, paramedics, meteorologists, and 9-1-1 operators. The videos, aimed at children ages 3 to 8, air on WUCF TV between kids programming, and are available on YouTube and the Meet the Helpers website. These resources are also available for free to public media stations across the country for use in their communities.
“The Meet the Helpers initiative continues to tell the stories of the heroes in our communities across the country,” said Dr. Phil Hoffman, WUCF executive director. “These videos and activities show children and families the importance of helpers and how to be a helper to others.”
In addition to community helpers, WUCF also produced a number of videos in this series to help families better explain the Coronavirus and mask-wearing.
Meet the Helpers is developed by WUCF and national experts in early childhood development from the UCF College of Community Innovation and Education and crisis communications from the UCF Nicholson School of Communication and Media. The initiative is an outgrowth of WUCF’s outreach immediately following the Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016. Meet The Helpers is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Duke Energy, and the Paul B. and Constance D. Hunter Foundation.
To learn more about the latest videos from Meet the Helpers visit meetthehelpers.org.