Maria Menounos Teams With Nike For ‘Let Me Play’ Program

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (August 31, 2007) – Access Hollywood’s Maria Menounos is teaming up with Nike and her celebrity friends to help give kids a place to play.

Maria and her charity, Take Action Hollywood!, have partnered with Nike’s “Let Me Play” program, a national program launched in July by Nike that builds and restores playgrounds across the country.

On September 15, Maria, Billy Bush and Shaun Robinson will hit the streets of Los Angeles for Nike’s Run Hit Remix to raise funds to help the “Let Me Play” program combat the nation’s growing childhood obesity problem.

“Take Action Hollywood! and I have been working extensively with the Entertainment Industry Foundation to curb the alarming growth of Type 2 Diabetes in this country – a growth linked directly to the increasing rate of obesity. When Nike approached us with the ‘Let Me Play’ campaign to renovate and create playing fields in depressed areas nationwide to confront the issue of childhood obesity, it was almost too perfect a fit to be true,” Maria said.

Also joining Maria’s team are celebs like Carson Daly, Serena Williams and “Heroes” star Milo Ventimiglia.

As race day draws near, Maria is also asking the public for their help. Fellow runners can donate their miles through NikePlus.com to help Maria’s team and Nike reach their goal of running 84,000 miles by September 15.