A model poses during a Crocs photo shoot at Pacific Park on Monday, March 12, 2012.

Buy Local Expo 2012 - Images by Fabian Lewkowicz

Buy Local Expo at the Third Street Promenade featured  free dance, martial art and fitness classes, live music, and performances from Santa Monica students and over 80 exhibitors  on Saturday, March 31, 2012.
 
“The goal is to celebrate our local business, get people feeling good about shopping locally and rewarding them for doing it,” said Jennifer Taylor, principle of the Buy Local Steering Committee. Chamber president Laurel Rosen commented, “Supporting our world-class business community isn’t just fun and convenient, it’s also responsible. Every local purchase is an investment in our schools and other public services.”   Buy Local Expo was presented by Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. and the City of Santa Monica.

A Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards blimp floats above Santa Monica on Friday, March 30, 2012.

First Lady Michelle Obama will make her first-ever appearance at Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards to present Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Taylor Swift with this year’s The Big Help Award in recognition of her extensive philanthropic endeavors, including her work with tornado and flood survivors in the United States. This year’s Kids’ Choice Awards, to be hosted by Will Smith, will be telecast live on Nickelodeon Saturday, March 31, at 8 pm (ET/Tape delayed for West Coast) from USC’s Galen Center in Los Angeles, Ca.  The Big Help Award recognizes individuals who take actions to better the world and whose significant impact on their community has inspired kids to do the same.

“Taylor’s dedication to helping others has encouraged her fan base to do the same, and this is the very core of what The Big Help is, inspiring others through action,” said Marva Smalls, Executive Vice President, Public Affairs and Chief of Staff, Nickelodeon Group.  “We are honored that First Lady Michelle Obama, a past recipient of The Big Help Award will be presenting this formidable and inspiring artist with this much deserved honor.”

First Lady Michelle Obama received The Big Help Award at the 2010 Kids’ Choice Awards in recognition of her leadership in championing healthier lifestyles for kids through her Let’s Move! campaign. Earlier this year, Mrs. Obama appeared in a special episode of Nickelodeon’s hit series iCarly in support of her Joining Forces initiative to support military families.

Among her many charitable works, Swift is dedicated to raising funds and awareness to benefit those affected by natural disasters. Most recently, Swift took the unprecedented step of opening the last dress rehearsal of her Speak Now Tour to fans as a fundraiser for victims of the deadly tornadoes that tore through the Southeastern region of the U.S. The event raised more than $750,000, with 100% of ticket sales going directly to help tornado victims via the “Speak Now ... Help Now” Fund established through the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.

Swift’s ongoing charitable work includes partnerships with Make-A-Wish Foundation, St. Jude Medical Center, Habitat for Humanity, TJ Martell Foundation, The Red Cross and its international and regional affiliates, The Salvation Army, Nick’s Kids, and the Victory Junction Gang Camp, as well as libraries, schools and educational initiatives around the country.

Nickelodeon’s The Big Help is a prosocial initiative that empowers kids to take positive actions on issues that are important to them. The goal of the campaign is to launch a kid-led movement, focusing on key issues like health and wellness, education, community service, and the environment. This is the fourth consecutive year The Big Help Award has been awarded to a celebrity who embodies the spirit of the Nickelodeon Big Help initiative.  Previous winners include last year’s recipient Justin Timberlake; this year’s presenter of the award, First Lady Michelle Obama in 2010; and Leonardo DiCaprio in 2009.

Kids can pledge to make a difference in their community by going to www.nick.com/thebighelp/.  The Big Help site will show them how to take positive actions that will directly affect their communities.

No stranger to Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards, Swift has been nominated four times and is the recipient of two blimp awards, for Favorite Female Singer (2010) and Favorite Song, “You Belong with Me” (2010).  Swift also appeared in the 2011 TeenNick HALO Awards as one of the celebrities paired with an extraordinary teen who shared his passion for community service and giving back.

A six-time Grammy award winner, Swift was also named Billboard‘s 2011 Woman of the Year, and is the reigning American Music Awards Artist of the Year, as well as both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer of the Year. Her Speak Now album has sold more than five million copies worldwide and she is Billboard‘s current Top 200 Albums Artist (all genres). With the release of her (now 5x-Platinum) Speak Now album in 2010, Swift sold more albums that year than any other artist in any genre of music. She made history on the Billboard Hot 100, charting a record-breaking 11 songs from one album in a single week.

Nickelodeon, now in its 32nd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books and feature films.

Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 17 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).

Santa Monica Police Officer Shaun Dove follows Training Officer Rob Dawson through a cone pattern coarse at Santa Monica Beach on Tuesday, March 20, 2012. Officer  Dove is practicing for an upcoming motorcycle training school.

Dongming Xiao performs  traditional Chinese music on the Erhu (known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin") at Arizona Avenue during the Santa Monica Farmers Market on Wednesday, March 14, 2012.

Street performer Lenny Hoops installs his new life size cutout at the Santa Monica Boardwalk on Wednesday, March 14, 2012.

Jackson, a 3 year-old English Bulldog, plays with a basket ball along the Santa Monica Boardwalk on Sunday, March 25, 2012.