Join the Children’s Defense Fund Activists Nationwide on April 9! The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) is thrilled to be an official Idol Gives Back 2008 beneficiary. During this special broadcast of American Idol on April 9, that will raise awareness and benefit select U.S. and international charities, CDF Board Member Reese Witherspoon will highlight CDF's work for children. We are immensely grateful to FOX Television and our longtime friend and Academy Award® winning actress Reese Witherspoon for showing the millions of American Idol viewers nationwide that every step we take to improve the lives of children improves the lives of all of us. As CDF turns 35 this year we could not ask for a better birthday gift!

Host a Watch Party: Everyone’s Doing It!

Invite your family and friends to join you in watching Idol Gives Back on April 9 (7:30pm ET on FOX) and participate in a discussion of the state of America’s children and ways that together, we can takes steps to not only improve the lives of children, but improve the lives of all of us.

Many people know that children throughout the country face serious hardships, but most don’t realize how large the crisis actually is. Fortunately, there are steps that all of us can take in our communities to solve these problems, but we must take them now, for every minute we waste, we lose another child.

As you watch Idol Gives Back together, pose these questions to each other during the commercial breaks to test each others knowledge and begin thinking about ways you can help.

1. How many children in the U.S. currently live without health coverage?

2. How many American children are currently living in poverty?

3. What steps can we take to make a difference in our local communities?

1. How many children in the U.S. currently live without health coverage?

Today, 9.4 million children are uninsured in the U.S.—that’s one in eight children. Every 41 seconds a baby is born without health coverage. And the crisis is getting worse. The number of uninsured children has increased by more than one million over the last two years alone.

The consequences are severe—uninsured people live sicker and die sooner than people who have health coverage, and lack of access to health care prevents children from realizing their full potential in school and life. Ensuring access to health coverage and health care for children is an investment in our future. Access to comprehensive care as a child can set the stage for a lifetime of good health, and leads to a more productive adulthood with fewer costly chronic diseases later on. Investing in prevention for children also makes good financial sense: For example, health coverage for a child in Texas can cost only $40 per month while a hospital stay for an uninsured child can cost $7,300.

It is morally indefensible for the United States, the wealthiest nation in the world, not to ensure that every child and pregnant woman has access to affordable, seamless, comprehensive health and mental health coverage and services.

2. How many American children are currently living in poverty?

Today nearly 13 million children, or one out of every six children in America, live in poverty. Every 35 seconds a baby is born into poverty. Between 2000 and 2006, the number of poor children increased by 1.2 million. Poor children lag behind their peers in many ways beyond income. They are less healthy, trail in emotional and intellectual development, and do not perform as well in school. The challenges that poor children face add up and can adversely affect them throughout their lives. Every year that we keep children in poverty costs our nation half a trillion dollars in lost productivity, poorer health and increased crime.

We can end poverty through investments in high quality education for every child, livable wages for families, tax credits to supplement incomes, job training and job creation, child care and health coverage.

3. What steps can we take to make a difference in our local communities?

There is a solution and you can make a difference today! You can take time to help children in your local community by: • Mentoring a child. • Volunteering at an after-school program for youth. • Voting in every election and advocating for children. • Volunteering with children who are homeless or in foster care. • Organizing a forum on incarcerated youth and the funding disparities between prisons and education in our nation. • Volunteering your talents or professional services to help a single-parent, kinship care or foster care family by babysitting, inviting them to events with their children, or providing transportation. • Inviting youth to events at the next educational level (e.g., taking a high school student to a college basketball game).

For additional ways you can get involved or for more information please visit: www.childrensdefense.org