The UPS Store® Marks First Rose Parade Appearance with Award-Winning Float

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The UPS Store celebrated more than just the debut of its first-ever float in the 2017 Tournament of Roses Parade® today taking home the Isabella Coleman Award for its float "Books Bring Us Together," a float designed to highlight the importance of childhood literacy.

The Isabella Coleman Award, named after the first female float designer for the Tournament of Roses Parade, is given to the float that represents the best in presentation of color and color harmony through floral use.

The float was designed to spotlight the Toys for Tots Literacy Program, developed by The UPS Store and the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation in 2008. The program provides books and educational resources to economically disadvantaged children in communities across the country, aiming to enhance children's ability to read and communicate effectively by igniting their imaginations through stories and tales.

"The UPS Store is honored to receive this year's Isabella Coleman Award," said Karen Kelly, director of advertising at The UPS Store. "This year's 'Echoes of Success' theme felt like the perfect opportunity for us to get involved and put the importance of childhood literacy on a national stage."

The UPS Store float was the tallest in this year's parade at 42 feet high and weighing in at 18 tons. The float features animal friends – a mouse holding a book, a gigantic giraffe with reading glasses and the U.S. Marine Corps teddy bear – all reading together. More than 60,000 chrysanthemums in six different varieties decorate the float, along with thousands of carnations, roses, lilies and orchids in various bright colors. The float's animation includes the giraffe turning his head side to side and wiggling his ears. The mouse and the teddy bear turn their heads as well, rocking side to side as the toy tops on the back end of the float spin.

Since its inception the literacy program has distributed more than 36.8 million books to children across the United States. For more information visit https://www.theupsstore.com/roses.

About The UPS Store

With more than 4,500 locations, The UPS Store® network comprises the nation's largest franchise system of retail shipping, postal, print and business service centers. The UPS Store locations in the U.S. are independently owned and operated by licensed franchisees of The UPS Store, Inc., a subsidiary of UPS (NYSE: UPS). Services, pricing and hours of operation may vary by location. For additional information on The UPS Store, including information on franchise opportunities for opening a The UPS Store location, visit www.theupsstore.com. Follow The UPS Store on Twitter at @TheUPSStore and like The UPS Store on Facebook at facebook.com/theupsstore. Copyright © 2016 The UPS Store, Inc. All rights reserved.

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SOURCE The UPS Store