HALO Awards Get Even Bigger with The HALO Effect

HALO (helping and leading others) that’s what Nickelodeon’s annual award show stands for and the reach of those young extraordinary teens hands are about to given larger with the premiere Nickelodeon’s brand-new pro-social docu-series, The HALO Effect, premiering Monday, Jan. 18, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT), on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day–widely known as a day of service.

Each 30-minute episode will highlight a teen who is making a positive change in their community and inspiring others to do the same.  Airing monthly on Nickelodeon, the series is hosted by Sydney Park (Instant Mom) and produced by Nick Cannon’s NCredible Entertainment and Morgan Spurlock’s Warrior Poets.

In the premiere episode, “A Place to Sleep,” 16-year-old Jessica Collins from Shelbyville, Ky., helps disadvantaged families in need of beds and bedding.  Collins was inspired by the film The Blind Side, and the realization that there are kids who don’t have a bed, to start her non-profit organization A Place to Sleep when she was 10 years old.  With the help of her church, family and the generous contributions of local residents who donate funds, beds and their time, A Place to Sleep has provided more than 750 families with bed frames, mattresses and bedding.  In recognition of her dedicated service, Nickelodeon’s The HALO Effect will award a $10,000 grant to Collins’ organization.

In each episode of The HALO Effect, the profiled teen will issue a “HALO Effect Challenge,” a call-to-action encouraging inspired viewers to participate in their cause and join the HALO movement.  As part of Collins’ “HALO Effect Challenge,” she is encouraging everyone to take a pajama selfie to bring awareness to this issue and also urging them to help people in need in their community.  Kids and families can visit www.salvationarmyusa.org/halo for fun ways to get involved.
The HALO Effect launched in 2013 as a year-round initiative recognizing one deserving teen every month for their work to help and lead others in their community.  The initiative was built upon Nickelodeon’s HALO Awards, an annual concert event honoring young community leaders with a grant for their organization and scholarship funds.   To date, more than 50 teens across the country have been honored and have received more than $400,000 in grants to fund their non-profit organizations.
The HALO Effect series expands Nickelodeon’s ongoing commitment to the HALO movement by giving an in-depth look into the inspirational stories of teens who are eager to share the issues and projects important to them and excited to engage others to achieve impact. The series is executive produced by Nick Cannon and NCredible Entertainment, as well as Morgan Spurlock, Richard Arlook, Jeremy Chilnick, Matthew Galkin and Ethan Goldman of Warrior Poets.