The Sumner Redstone Charitable Foundation has donated $100,000 to the Safe to Talk Fund to place the anonymous texting service SchoolTipline in schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. A leading figure in the media industry, Mr. Redstone is Executive Chairman of Viacom Inc. and CBS Corporation.
The Safe to Talk Fund is committed to decreasing bullying, violence, crime and suicide in schools through education, programs and services. One such product is a technological solution called SchoolTipline. SchoolTipline is an anonymous texting platform that allows students to submit tips of violent or dangerous behavior to administrators, without fearing retribution from peers. In connection with the Safe to Talk Fund and Friends of Safe Schools Los Angeles (FOSSLA), the LA Unified School District is slated to implement SchoolTipline to help increase safety across its schools.
Mr. Redstone said: “I have always believed that a quality education is one of the most important contributors to success in life. That is why I am very pleased to support SchoolTipline and the LA Unified Schools District in their mission to foster a safe schools, and give young people the chance to get the education they deserve, in a supportive environment, free of bullying and violence. I hope others will support the important work of the Safe to Talk Fund.”
"As a detective for the Los Angeles School Police Department and co-founder of the Friends of Safe Schools Los Angeles charity, I believe it is of the utmost importance to have programs that provide avenues of prevention against violence, weapons on school campuses, bullying, and drug abuse, across our nation’s schools.” Said Rudy Perez Executive Director, of FOSSLA. “We are really grateful to Mr. Redstone for his donation to the schools of LA Unified"
The Los Angeles Unified Schools District has more than 900,000 enrolled students, attending more than 1,200 total schools and centers. This generous donation will provide these students and their faculty members with a safe, convenient resource to report bullying, concerns of suicide, presence of drugs and alcohol and other threatening behavior.
“The LA Unified School District represents the thousands of school districts spread across the United States, plagued by bullying, aggressive behavior and students struggling with how to respond,” said SchoolTipline CEO Kevin Santiago. “We are excited to team with The Safe to Talk Fund and FOSSLA in this great project made possible through Mr. Redstone’s contribution. Using our technology we are able to provide a solution to students and administrators giving them a response channel that acts quickly and effectively. Our goal is to be able to provide the same opportunity, the same channel, to every other school district in the nation.”
According to the National Education Association, 160,000 students skip classes each day because they fear physical harm, and nearly as many of their classmates are bringing guns to school. Sumner Redstone has joined forces with The Safe to Talk Fund and SchoolTipline to aggressively decrease these numbers in the Los Angeles area. For more information on the Safe to Talk Fund at the Community Foundation of Utah, please contact Fraser Nelson at (801) 559-3005. For information on SchoolTipline, please contact Todd Kirk, at 1-800-847-5104.
Sumner M. Redstone
In addition to his well know success in the media industry, Mr. Redstone has devoted himself to a wide variety of civic and community affairs efforts, contributing over $130 million to worthy charities around the world over the last several years. He has donated $1.5 million to the Global Poverty Project towards eradicating polio and funded the establishment of the Cambodian Children’s Fund child rescue center along with research and patient care advancements in cancer, burn recovery and mental health at several major non-profit healthcare organizations. Many of his major gifts have been focused on encouraging the acceleration of basic research into clinical trials and, ultimately, to individuals and their families. Mr. Redstone has supported such internationally recognized programs as A Place Called Home, Autism Speaks, FasterCures/The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions, based in Washington D.C.; the prostate cancer research of Dr. David Agus at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine; the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts; the Cedars-Sinai Women’s Heart Center; Boston Latin School and Harvard University and Harvard Law School.
Mr. Redstone began his career as Law Secretary with the U.S. Court of Appeals, and then served as a Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General. Subsequently, he was a partner with the law firm of Ford, Bergson, Adams, Borkland and Redstone in Washington, D.C. In 1954, he joined National Amusements, Inc., which he then organized into the successful company it is today. Based in Dedham, Massachusetts, National Amusements is one of the largest motion picture circuits in the United States.
Mr. Redstone served in the Military Intelligence Division during World War II. While a student at Harvard, he was selected by Japanese history professor Edwin Reischauer (later Ambassador to Japan) to join a special intelligence group whose mission was to break Japan's high-level military and diplomatic codes. In connection with these activities, Mr. Redstone received, among other honors, two commendations from the Military Intelligence Division in recognition of his service, contribution and devotion to duty. He is also a recipient of the Army Commendation Award.
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