Scott Alliy Helps Companies Large and Small Get the Publicity They Deserve Through His Press Release Programs

For schoolchildren participating in project Give Kids A Chance, the answer is enlightened education. The numbers are daunting, to be sure, but Scott Alliy, President of Houston, Texas-based distributor Premium Enterprises, takes a deep breath and lunges forward into battle. 

The mission Alliy chose is to get his creation – Word Shirts – into not only the 400 elementary schools in the state of Texas, but onto the backs of more than one million students in the Texas elementary schools.  For good measure, Alliy envisions the effort taking off (or in this case, putting on) nationwide.

            “My reason for this project is I simply believe we should be creating

a better society,” Alliy says.  “We start building that better society from the ground up with our kids.  I mean, when we’re producing a 75 percent or less success rate of graduates, then maybe we need to be doing something different.”

            Each T-shirt features an educational message and illustration on the front relating to a subject of interest to children – beach, farm, zoo, nature, religion, safety, geography and more.  On the back are the sponsor’s name and the project name, “Give Kids A Chance”. 

Sponsors purchase the shirts for the schools.  The benefit to children is the opportunity to use the T-shirts as a jumping off point to learn more about the world around them.  Sponsors benefit by linking their company with a project that helps kids and through the obvious exposure to customers and prospective customers.

            “We have two problems in our communities that our project addresses,” Alliy says.  “First is an abundance of students in a school system lacking adequate funding, and second is fulfilling a basic need each child has for recognition.  We must realize that supporting education is a way to build a brighter and safer future for us all.  Community involvement is the best way to show we care about the children and our education system.  We have to make a difference.”

            Alliy’s project is still in its infancy stage, but its goal has already been felt at Walter Hall Elementary in League City, Texas.  Cheryl Stephens, principal of the school, told Alliy, “The teachers feel that the shirts were educational and motivating to the students.  The concept worked well in the classroom setting and the students liked them.”

            Beyond the recognition and education students receive, the shirts have value to the community.  “The project is a reason to get the community involved,” Alliy says.  “In order to ask somebody’s help, you have to have a good reason why you need the help.”

            From a promotional standpoint the shirts provide individuals, businesses and organizations a means to “show they care” about education and the future by getting in project ‘Give Kids A Chance” as a sponsor.  “We believe this project stimulates community interest,” Alliy says.  “That’s why we’ve set this up as a donation process.”

            The project obviously promotes education and businesses, but another aspect of promotion is in fund-raising efforts.  “If a school does not have sponsors or does not have a budget, we will provide them cups with the “Give Kids A Chance” logo imprinted for them to sell as a fund raiser to purchase the shirts,” Alliy says.

            In addition to the shirts, Alliy sends to the participating schools information concerning the Word Shirt benefits and a Word Shirt Teacher Workbook on how to get the most from the shirts.  He also sends a letter to PTA directors explaining the project and its merits.

            Alliy like to let his imagination run wild when thinks of how the promotional products industry could affect schools by participating in the project.  “My one donation had an impact on 500 children.  We have more than 5,500 member in the association…the math becomes astronomical,” he says.

            Alliy’s goal is to find 12 sponsors per school “to create more of an opportunity for community involvement,” he says.  “Getting involved is the spark that lights the fire, and the more people we get involved the bigger the fire’s going to be.”   PPB

(For more information on the “Give Kids A Chance” project, call Scott Alliy at 281 255-4217 fax 281-255-4287