Elmo and his friends hit a 500k milestone at Fort Benning, Ga.: They’ve entertained more than half a million troops and families around the world.
The performance Friday was part of the troupe’s 63rd tour stop in 2014. Since Sesame Street and the USO teamed up in July 2008 to bring the characters to military children and their families, the characters have performed 893 shows on 147 military installations in 33 states and 11 countries. Among the troupe’s characters is Katie, a military child who is moving to a new place.
In addition to providing the free, 30-minute show on Thursday and Friday at Fort Benning, Sesame Street and USO passed out more than 500 free cookies at each performance. And when the families were asked to stay for a few minutes at the end of the show to pose for a photo with the Sesame Street characters, “the kids were really excited to see the characters come back out,” said Karen Hart, a spokeswoman for Sesame Street.
The show is based on Sesame Street’s Military Families Initiative, which provides resources along with Sesame Street videos to help military parents talk with their children about issues such as deployments, combat-related injuries and the loss of a loved one.
“The USO is proud of its partnership with Sesame Street and we are thrilled with how much this partnership has provided to our service members and their families,” said J.D. Crouch II, USO president and CEO, in a news release. “500,000 represents the number of smiles Elmo and Katie have brought to military kids and their families over the past six years as the tour has traveled around the world.”
For more information about upcoming tour stops, visit uso.org/sesame.
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