WHO: Safe Kids Mid-South, led by Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center, FedEx, members of the Orange Mound community, the Dunbar Elementary principal and several students.

WHAT: Safe Kids Mid-South, led by Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center, and FedEx have convened a local pedestrian safety task force of community leaders. The task force will work with the City of Memphis Park Services Orange Mound Service Center to help improve the walking conditions for children and all pedestrians in the neighborhood. The task force will announce its recommendations at a Special Check Presentation Ceremony on May 2, 2008.

This is the ninth year the Safe Kids Walk This Way program has been active in communities across the United States. Safe Kids Worldwide and FedEx focus task force efforts on changing physical conditions and making the pedestrian environment safer for children to walk.

WHEN: 1:00 p.m. - Friday, May 2, 2008

WHERE: Outside Dunbar Elementary School
2602 Select Avenue
Memphis, TN 38114

WHY: In Memphis, approximately 5 children per year are struck by motor vehicles. Pedestrian injury remains the second leading cause of accidental death among children ages 5 to 14. Every year, nationwide, more than 630 children ages 14 and under die from pedestrian- related injuries and more than 30,000 go to the emergency department. Safe Kids Mid-South activities are designed to help children walk safely all year round.

Safe Kids Mid-South works to prevent accidental childhood injury, the leading
killer of children 14 and under. Its members include health and safety advocates, heath care professionals, businesses, civic groups and individuals interested in the safety well- being of children. Safe Kids Mid-South is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations dedicated to preventing accidental injury. Safe Kids Mid-South was founded in 1992 and is led by Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center.