• American Cleaning Institute Joins Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing to Commemorate October 15 as Global Handwashing Day• ACI Offers Ideas for Schools, Community Leaders to Encourage Handwashing• Free Webinar Highlights Hygiene Education Efforts to Combat Cold & Flu Season

Newswise — Washington, DC, October 14, 2014 – In commemoration of Global Handwashing Day, October 15, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) is offering schools, students and community leaders ideas and online resources to encourage handwashing every day of the year.

Those resources can be found on ACI’s Clean Hands website:

http://www.cleaninginstitute.org/clean_living/global_handwashing_day.aspxACI is raising awareness on Global Handwashing Day with Family, Career & Community Leaders of America members during their Capitol Leadership Meeting in Washington, DC. The message: Keep Calm and Celebrate Global Handwashing Day.

“Very simply put, handwashing with soap saves lives,” said Nancy Bock, ACI Senior Vice President, Education. “ACI is proud to support the Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing in spreading the word year-round about the importance of enhancing health through good hygiene practices.”

Teaching about handwashing and good hygiene practices is also the subject of a free, anytime webinar from ACI.

Health educators, family and consumer science teachers, school nurses and health educators can sign up now for the free webinar on preparing for cold and flu season.

The ACI-hosted session will feature experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing, Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, and ACI. The pre-recorded webinar will be available at your convenience. Sign up today at www.cleaninginstitute.org/coldfluregister.

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The American Cleaning Institute® (ACI) is the Home of the U.S. Cleaning Products Industry® and represents the $30 billion U.S. cleaning products market. ACI members include the formulators of soaps, detergents, and general cleaning products used in household, commercial, industrial and institutional settings; companies that supply ingredients and finished packaging for these products; and oleochemical producers. ACI (www.cleaninginstitute.org) and its members are dedicated to improving health and the quality of life through sustainable cleaning products and practices.

The Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap (PPPHW) is a coalition of international stakeholders whose focus is handwashing and child health. Established in 2001, the partnership aims to give families, schools, and communities in developing countries the power to prevent diarrhea and respiratory infections by supporting the universal promotion and practice of proper handwashing with soap at critical times. - See more at: http://globalhandwashing.org/about#sthash.jwmbmkc4.dpuf

About FCCLA: Family, Career and Community Leaders of America is a nonprofit national career and technical student organization for young men and women in Family and Consumer Sciences education in public and privateschool through grade 12. Everyone is part of a family, and FCCLA is the only national Career and Technical Student Organization with the family as its central focus. Since 1945, FCCLA members have been making a difference in their families, careers, and communities by addressing important personal, work, and societal issues through Family and Consumer Sciences education.

Today 200,000 members in more than 5,500 chapters are active in a network of associations in 50 states, including the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Chapter projects focus on a variety of youth concerns, including teen pregnancy, parenting, family relationships, substance abuse, peer pressure, environment, nutrition and fitness, teen violence, and career exploration. Involvement in FCCLA offers members the opportunity to expand their leadership potential and develop skills for life -- planning, goal setting, problem solving, decision making, and interpersonal communication -- necessary in the home and workplace.