BWF in the News

May 20, 2009

525 TEENS TO SUPPORT “TWEET TO REMIND” MEMORIAL DAY FUNDRAISER FOR U.S SERVICE MEMBERS RETURNING FROM WAR Bob Woodruff’s Kids Lead Teens Tweeting for Wounded Veterans Over Memorial Day Weekend

NEW YORK, May 18, 2009 – Mack and Cathryn Woodruff, children of ABC News correspondent and ReMIND.org founder Bob Woodruff, are mobilizing a group of 525 teens called Team Tweet to ReMIND, to support Tweet to ReMIND, the social media initiative to raise $1.65 million over the Memorial Day weekend for U.S. troops returning to their communities from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. The group of 525 young people represents the date of this year’s Memorial Day (May 25), the culmination of the Tweet to ReMIND event. The fundraising goal represents one dollar for every soldier deployed since 9/11.

Each team member has agreed to personally pledge $5.25 on TweetToReMIND.org, and to raise $100 over the course of the weekend by recruiting 100 friends. In addition, each team member will send at least one tweet each day of the holiday weekend, from Friday through Monday, to ensure wounded veterans and their caretakers and families are in Americans’ thoughts over the holiday.

“Not only is this fundraising effort important, it also showcases the integral role that teens have in reshaping our perception of what a more positive and charitable future looks like,” said Marian Salzman, CEO of global public relations agency Porter Novelli, lead sponsor of Tweet to ReMIND. “We believe their tweets will convey this pragmatic optimism and sense of purpose to the entire world, who can watch and participate via Twitter and TweetToReMIND.org."

Team Tweet to ReMIND is led by Mack Woodruff, 17, and his sister Cathryn, 15, the eldest children of Bob and Lee Woodruff, whose family has drawn from its own experiences with wartime injuries to raise awareness and resources for others personally impacted by war. ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff was nearly killed by a roadside bomb while reporting from Iraq, which led him to become a passionate and powerful advocate for the troops. He and his wife, Lee, co-founded the Bob Woodruff Foundation and ReMIND.org to support wounded veterans—in particular those suffering from traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder, who often suffer in silence, undiagnosed and untreated.

Spearheaded by Porter Novelli, JWT Worldwide, Clinique and Sawhorse Media, Tweet to ReMIND is the largest and most ambitious online fundraising effort in history, empowering Twitter users to raise awareness and funds with their online posts. All proceeds go directly to localized resources for troops reintegrating into their communities after deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tweet to ReMIND’s innovative use of Twitter makes the campaign a natural for teens—often referred to as “digital natives” for their intuitive understanding and use of social media. This campaign also proves the rising power of the small donor.

Teens interested in joining Team Tweet to ReMIND can join the Bob Woodruff Foundation Fan page on Facebook and contact Lisa Gruber (lisa.gruber@porternovelli.com) for more information.

There are 11 families that are national co-chairs for Team Tweet to ReMIND:

1. Spenser Sussan (17, King Low Heywood Thomas School, Stamford, CT; Hometown, Stamford, CT), Ryan Sussan (21, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT; Hometown, Stamford, CT)
2. Julie Zucker (16, Wayne Hills High School, Wayne, NJ; Hometown, Wayne, NJ)
3. Hayden Barforf (13, All Saints School, Manassas, VA; Hometown, Manassas, VA)
4. Ellie Woodruff (15, Seaholm High School, Troy, MI; Hometown, Troy, MI)
5. John Chestnut (18, The Loomis Chaffee School, Windsor, CT; Hometown, Old Greenwich, CT)
6. Isabelle Diamond (15, Solomon Schechter High School, Hartsdale, NY; Hometown, Stamford, CT)
7. Alix West, Teddi West (13, Greenwich Academy, Greenwich, CT; Hometown, Greenwich, CT)
8. Douglas Jeffrey (15, La Salle Academy, Providence, RI; Hometown, Johnston, RI)
9. William Winkenwerder (16, Episcopal High School, Alexandria, VA; Hometown, Alexandria, VA)
10. Estee Gabay (19, Eastern Carolina University, Greenville, NC; Hometown, Atlanta, GA), Egal Gabay (17, Charleston Collegiate High School, Charleston, SC; Hometown, Charleston, SC)
11. Zachary Chirazi (16, Abraham Lincoln High School, San Francisco, CA; Hometown, San Francisco, CA)

Said Lee Woodruff, co-founder of ReMIND.org: "We have high hopes for our new media effort, and no group of people is better poised to help us realize our ambitious goals than the digital natives, including those in my family, who live connectivity and who understand it is a crucial agent of social change as well as social life."

She adds, "So many of the wounded are so young and so full of potential. I am very proud that teens can join us to celebrate them and support our vital efforts to make their re-entry into the everyday world smoother and more productive.”

ABOUT REMIND.ORG ReMIND.org, a Bob Woodruff Foundation initiative, provides resources and support to injured service members and their families, and is building a movement to empower communities nationwide to take action to successfully reintegrate our Nation’s injured heroes—especially those who have sustained the Hidden Injuries of War—back into their communities, and ensure they thrive physically, psychologically, socially and economically.

ABOUT PORTER NOVELLI A global public relations leader, Porter Novelli was founded in 1972 and is a part of Omnicom Group Inc (NYSE: OMC). Selected 2009 PRWeek Agency to Watch, Porter Novelli was also recognized in ZDNet’s social PR survey as a firm that “really gets it.” With 100 offices in 60 countries, Porter Novelli helps clients achieve Intelligent Influence—changing attitudes and behaviors by having the right conversations with the right people at the right time. Visit porternovelli.com.

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