Amazing Kids! Partners With Comics Experts Guy Gilchrist and Toonville.com to Sponsor Comic Strip Drawing Contest.

Business &Entertainment Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 2000

Grand Prize Winner to Receive $1,000 Scholarship and

Mentoring by Guy Gilchrist 

Amazing Kids!(TM), (www.amazing-kids.org) an educational non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring excellence in children, today announced the kick-off of the Amazing Kids! Comic Strip Drawing Contest.

The latest in a series of ongoing educational contests sponsored by Amazing Kids!, the comic strip drawing contest is being co-sponsored by Gilchrist Studios Online (www.gilchriststudios.com), and Toonville.com.

Gilchrist Studios Online is the official Web site of internationally syndicated cartoonist Guy Gilchrist, who draws the classic Nancy comic strip, the new Night Lights &Pillow Fights feature and Mudpie comic, among others.

Toonville.com, the second largest cartoon site on the Internet, is owned and operated by I-Pipe Inc., an Internet content publisher and advertising network based in Virginia.

The contest is open to kids and teens, ages 6 to 17, who love to draw. Entrants must create 2 to 4 &uot;Amazing Kids&uot; characters for their comic strip, and submit a color, and a black and white version to Amazing Kids! at 1158 26th Street, PMB 485, Santa Monica, Calif. 90403.

Complete contest rules are on the Amazing Kids! Webspace(TM) at www.amazing-kids.org/comicscontest.htm. Contest deadline is May 1, 2000.

Numerous prizes will be awarded in several age categories ranging from ages 6 to 17, including autographed copies of artwork by Guy Gilchrist, Amazing Kids! T-shirts, cartoon-themed &uot;Party Paks,&uot; and a grand prize $1,000 scholarship from Toonville.com.

The grand prize winner, to be mentored by Guy Gilchrist, will create the first-ever Amazing Kids! Adventures comic strip, a feature to appear regularly on the Amazing Kids! Webspace.

Amazing Kids! Founder and President Alyse Rome described the philosophy behind the Amazing Kids! educational contests:

&uot;Amazing Kids! believes that every child has a unique gift often just waiting to be discovered. Our contests, like all of our programs, focus on helping children discover those gifts, connecting them with mentors who can help them nurture those gifts and providing them with scholarships to pursue their talents further.&uot;

Rome described the origin of the Amazing Kids!-Gilchrist Studios partnership. &uot;When I first met Guy and his wife Angie, the connection was immediate,&uot; Rome noted.

&uot;Angie and Guy have been such incredible supporters of children in their work that the partnership was a natural fit. Guy currently teaches drawing lessons on our Web site, and when I proposed the idea for the contest, they readily accepted.&uot;

Gilchrist explained his participation in the contest, &uot;One of the greatest gifts I can receive as a children's book writer and cartoonist is the chance to positively affect the lives of children. Watching a child's creativity blossom is a great blessing. What a wonderful opportunity to do that with the Amazing Kids! Comic Strip Drawing Contest!&uot;

Shortly afterward, Rich Johann, the president and chief executive officer of I-Pipe Inc., parent company of Toonville.com, expressed his company's interest in co-sponsoring the contest. A committed supporter of children's causes, Johann offered a $1,000 scholarship for the grand prize winner.

&uot;Amazing Kids!, with their Comic Strip Drawing Contest for young aspiring cartoonists, is exactly the kind of worthwhile cause that I-Pipe loves to support,&uot; noted Johann.

&uot;I-Pipe has been involved in supporting children's causes for many years now, both on a local and national level. We have given several scholarships to underprivileged children, and employ several high school students in our offices. We are big supporters of young aspiring cartoonists, and recently sponsored the National Cartoonist Society's Christmas party.&uot;

Rome added: &uot;I-Pipe's Toonville.com is highly regarded in the Internet community for their content-rich Web site, which feature countless cartoons and comic strips. I am delighted to have the support of both I-Pipe and Gilchrist Studios Online. Our partnership ensures that this contest will be an exciting and educational experience for all participants.&uot;

For more information about the Amazing Kids! Comic Strip Drawing Contest, or the Amazing Kids! organization and educational programs, or to find out how to make a tax-deductible donation to the non-profit organization, visit the Amazing Kids! Webspace at www.amazing-kids.org, or contact Alyse Rome at 888/892-6293, or e-mail at [e-mail].

Note to Editors: Amazing Kids!, I-Pipe and Gilchrist Studios Online are trademarks of their respective organizations. Amazing Kids! is a project of Community Partners, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Los Angeles.