Five hundred U.S. military children and their parents stationed throughout the Colorado Springs area, participated in a Blue Star Families’ Books on Bases program, coordinated with support from Disney and its media network ESPN. During the event, including a surprise guest appearance, Blue Star Families and Disney VoluntEARS engaged military children and their families in art activities, including: making pirate swords, crowns and bookmarks. As families left the event, each child was given a reusable Blue Star Families tote bag full of read-along stories from Disney Publishing Worldwide and Disney plush toys.

The National Standard for Sustainable Agriculture (LEO-4000) has been approved!

The five-day event, Nov. 13-17, is “A Salute to the Troops” weekend and includes a “Wall of Gratitude” where hundreds of MGM Resorts employees will gather to welcome and thank the veterans as they parade through The Mirage Hotel & Casino upon their arrival. There will also be a special welcome dinner, and excursions in and around Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. Special stops include: Terry Fator: The VOICE of Entertainment at The Mirage, Cirque du Soleil’s “O” at Bellagio Resort & Casino and a concert by Gary Sinise and the LT. Dan Band. Skydiving and helicopter tours in the Las Vegas area are also part of the plans.

General Motors is now able to accelerate and verify fuel-saving designs earlier in development of new cars and trucks thanks to a new reduced scale wind tunnel test facility on the campus of the company’s Technical Center.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a global leader and award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, semiconductors and telecommunications, today announced that it won 37 prestigious International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2016 Innovation Awards. The Consumer Technology Association™ (CTA), the producer of CES 2016 - the global gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies, who has been recognizing achievements in product design and engineering since 1976, has honored Samsung with one more Best of Innovation Award this year than last year.

More than 30 Chicago-area educators recently gathered at the CITGO Petroleum Corp. Lemont Refinery to take part in the Nautilus Exploration Program CITGO STEM Academy. Funded by CITGO, the free, day-long program provided a unique opportunity for local educators to learn more about deep-ocean exploration, network with their peers and partake in a variety of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)-related activities.

Feeding America, the nation’s leading hunger-relief organization, salutes The Walt Disney Company for its $1.5 million donation, the vast majority of which will provide grants to 60 food banks across the nation to expand their local fresh produce sourcing and distribution programs. The donation will be announced on ABC’s “The Chew” today at 1:00 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. CT/PT.