BWF in the News

Veterans with brain injuries join fight to save social service agency: (Chicago Tribune)

Remind.org — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:15:02 -0400

Greg Rodriguez was once a strong young Marine who dreamed of becoming a drill sergeant. But that was before a pickup truck slammed into his car, causing brain damage that ended his military career and afflicts him to this day.

He is only 26, but walks with the stiff shuffle of an old man. He forgets things easily. His speech is muddled and difficult to understand.

But when he took the floor recently at Chicago's Midwest Brain Injury Clubhouse, a day center for people who have suffered similar damage, he stood a little straighter, spoke a little louder, as the Marine Corps in him burst to the surface. [click here to view] (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northnorthwest/ct-met-brain-injuries-20100318,0,2203015.story)

Caregiving strains families of veterans with severe injuries: (USA Today)

Remind.org — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:14:34 -0400

Kevin Kammerdiener's mother, Leslie, takes care of his every need, which would be fine if he were in preschool.

The thing is, "Kamm" is 21. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, shattered bones and burns on 25% of his body in Afghanistan in May 2008, which left him in a wheelchair, unable to speak and in chronic pain. click here to view

Team of wounded vets to compete in Disney half marathon:(WDBO Local News)

Remind.org — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:07:13 -0500

Dustin Tuller, pictured at right, is one of the 17 vets who will be participating in the race as part of the Achilles Team of Wounded Veterans. The team provides injured service men and women the opportunity to train and compete in mainstream races across the country.click here to view

BWF advisor, Dr. William Winkenwerder nominated for 50 Most Powerful Physician Leaders in Healthcare

Remind.org — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:34:16 -0500

Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Department of Defense Chairman, The Winkenwerder Company LLC [click here to vote by Feb 5, 2010] (http://www.modernphysician.com/section/mp50mostpowerful)

Adrian College Receives Gift From The Bob Woodruff Foundation

Remind.org — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:46:37 -0500

ADRIAN, Mich. - Adrian College is pleased to announce that the Bob Woodruff Foundation has approved a grant for $66,600 to fund 50% of the Operation Education Scholarship at the College.

Operation Education offers a disabled American veteran, who was injured during combat in Afghanistan or Iraq post Sept. 11, 2001, a full scholarship toward earning his or her college degree each academic year. The grant from the Foundation is designated solely to pay the expenses related to tuition, room and board, fees and veteran services for three Operation Education students.click here to view

STATEMENT OF DAVID WOODRUFF CO-FOUNDER, BOB WOODRUFF FOUNDATION BEFORE THE CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE HEALTH AND VETERANS’ AFFAIRS COMMITTEES

Remind.org — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:47:07 -0500

13 JANUARY 2010

Chairman Alquist and distinguished members of the Senate Health and Veterans’ Affairs Committees; on behalf of the Bob Woodruff Foundation, I want to thank you for your continued support of injured service members, veterans, and their families.  With over three million veterans living in the state of California, your State represents the largest veteran population in America. You are keenly aware of the challenges that our nation’s service members, veterans and their families face.  It is an honor to speak with you today.

On January 29, 2006, my brother, ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, was severely injured in Iraq when his convoy was struck by a roadside bomb. On that day our entire family was thrust into an unfamiliar world that has changed all of us forever.
After five weeks in a medically induced coma at the National Naval Medical Center, in Bethesda, Maryland, Bob finally awoke on March 6, 2006. For Bob and our service members injured in this war, Bethesda’s state-of-the-art care was only the beginning of a very long road to recovery. Over the last four years, Bob has made miraculous strides in that recovery with his “new normal” turning out better than nearly all had expected. In fact, today Bob is back at work reporting full-time throughout the world, and this summer he even returned to Iraq with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen. Bob was fortunate. He had a definitive diagnosis, access to state of the art rehabilitative care in close proximity to his home, unlimited access to cognitive testing and rehab, a commitment from his employer to do everything they could to retain him in his professional field, and a strong support network of family and friends to assist him through all phases of recovery and the transition back into his community. Bob was also blessed with the support, professionalism and high competency of military medicine without the overwhelming burden of navigating an unwieldy bureaucracy. Throughout Bob’s recovery, our family surrounded ourselves with service members who had sustained similar injuries. Through them our family has learned that Bob’s road to recovery was not riddled with the same administrative snares or limited treatment options that so many injured service members and their families endure, nor the difficulties reintegrating back into his community. Despite the challenges these families face each day, the bravery and steely resolve we have seen in the eyes of children, spouses, and parents who care for their injured service members each day have inspired us. Much has improved for our injured service members and their families, though much still needs to be done, especially after acute treatment is complete and our service members return to their communities.

I am not a veteran though over the last four years I have shared their pain and have been blessed to have met many of our wounded and their families. I share their love for our country - your love for our country - and, as a result, I try to understand their burdens. I see the pain of their sacrifices and I watch them as they weary from the enormity of their circumstances. As an American, I stand with pride, in awe at their accomplishments. I often wonder, even though they live in a resilient community of people with whom one another rally at times of stress, how they can keep up with this operational tempo. Our service members and their families continue to re-double their efforts, re-connect, prepare for the future and pace their marathon. They know their job is not done, that they still have a long and challenging journey ahead. My question is, as a government, are we doing all that we can to prevent, screen, diagnose and treat our injured? As civilians do we support them, empower them, ensure that they thrive in our communities when they return? Our veterans cannot manage this journey alone, sustain this pace and continue to thrive at home and abroad. They need us.

In Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) and Iraq (Operations Iraqi Freedom) our service members are engaged in asymmetrical warfare, a war with no “front” lines, where crude yet effective blast weaponry is used by insurgents to gain an advantage against US forces. IEDs are the signature weapon in these conflicts, and the combat circumstances create hypersensitivity and severe injuries in the “rear.” We recently witnessed this occur in Afghanistan when we lost seven CIA agents in a deadly bombing in the “rear.” The signature injuries of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are Traumatic Brain Injury and Combat Operational Stress (COS), which sometimes results in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. These less visible injuries are typically “hidden” from view.
While 1 in 50 service members in OEF/OIF have sustained physical combat injuries, 1 in 5 have sustained a hidden injury of war. They are often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, and the frequent over-lay of a TBI combined with PTSD makes diagnosis and treatment more difficult. Though there are efforts within the military to dispel stigmas, they are still prevalent in the military culture frequently delaying or preventing service members from seeking screenings and treatment. The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have not screened every returning veteran for TBI and COS, and there is no consensus from unit to unit on when to remove a service member from the “fight.”

Treatment for injured service members is often not executed close to the service member’s home of record. Suicides continue to increase in the Services, especially within the Army and Marine Corps, and tracking to ensure successful reintegration for service members and their families is inadequate. Moreover, as our service members return from combat to civilian life, these injuries create other complex problems such as substance abuse, divorce and homelessness. Veterans and their families who have not been properly screened, diagnosed and treated while in the service or who have been disciplined or discharged from service will constitute a large proportion of individuals needing State assistance.

As of January 5, 2010, 36,364 service members have been wounded in action and 5,301 killed in action in Afghanistan and Iraq. Advancements in combat medicine and training, improvements in body armor and vehicle armor, as well as detection devices, have increased the survival rate of a wounded service member to approximately 90%.

The burdens of responsibility to ensure that our service members, veterans, and their families have successful futures are shared by the federal, state, and local governments, as well as the private sector. The federal government alone is inadequate in addressing all of the needs of reintegrating service members, especially those with the hidden injuries of war.

We encourage the State of California to consider requiring that all California military service men and women returning from combat zones throughout the world be comprehensively assessed and treated for the cognitive, psychological, physical, social, and medical complications associated with the hidden injuries of war. That the State establish and fund a formal reintegration program at the State level to address the needs of injured service members, veterans, and their families to ensure successful futures and empower local communities to take action to assist. The program should specifically address the following issues: Housing, Education, Employment, Healthcare, and Recreation/Socialization.

Even though Bob’s career as a journalist is very different from that of a young service member, as a family we feel a special connection to those who have volunteered to serve and have been injured in the line of duty.  In gratitude for the care Bob received and for the service of our men and women in uniform, we established the Bob Woodruff Foundation – a national nonprofit that helps ensure our nation’s service members return to a home front ready to support them.   We do this in three key ways:

Through a movement called Remind.org — we help educate the public about the needs of service members returning from war… and our nation’s greater responsibility to ensure our heroes and their families receive the support necessary to successfully reintegrate into their communities.
We collaborate with other experts and organizations, at the federal state and local level, to identify and solve issues related to the return of service members from combat to civilian life.
We invest in national and community-based programs that connect our troops to the help they need — from individual needs like physical accommodations, medical care and counseling, to larger social issues like homelessness and suicide.

Together with our partners, supporters, and communities, we are helping heal the physical and psychological wounds of war. The Bob Woodruff Foundation has spent nearly $4.5 million on programs, reaching more than 500,000 service members, support personnel, veterans and their families nationwide.

The Bob Woodruff Foundation is dedicated to collaborating with lawmakers, the Departments of Defense and Veteran’s Affairs, and private industry to develop excellence in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, support and resources for our injured service members. By creating awareness and educating our nation on the hidden injuries of war, and helping individual injured service members and their families with opportunities as they navigate their own journey, we hope to make certain all of our injured receive the best treatment available and the best chance of resuming their lives as successful honored members of their communities. Thank you.

David Woodruff, Co-Founder of Bob Woodruff Foundation, Testifies Before California State Senate Health Committee: (PR Newswire)

Remind.org — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:40:07 -0500

Brother of ABC News Anchor Bob Woodruff Details Struggles of Veterans Returning From Deployment With Hidden Injuries, Asks Committees, "Are We Doing All That We Can?"

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- David Woodruff, co-founder of the Bob Woodruff Foundation and brother of ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, who was severely injured by a roadside bomb while reporting from Iraq, testified today before California's State Senate Health Committee.

In a moving tribute to the incredible hardships and sacrifices faced by service members and their families, Woodruff recounted his own family's struggles during his brother's long and painstaking recovery from the traumatic brain injuries he sustained in Iraq. Woodruff also plainly detailed the advantages afforded his brother throughout his recovery, contrasting the reality for many injured veterans. It is a discrepancy that inspired the founding of the Bob Woodruff Foundation and its initiative ReMIND.org, dedicated to raising awareness of the emotional and psychological pain, post-traumatic stress and brain injuries suffered by service members in combat. These devastating, complicated and hidden injuries often go unnoticed or untreated, leaving returning service members to struggle alone with the effects and symptoms.click here to view

1/12 – Bob Woodruff Foundation Helps SVA Celebrate 2nd Anniversary with Grant to Assist Student Veterans

Remind.org — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:39:02 -0500

Student Veterans of America Announces 2nd Anniversary and Reception of Grant from the Bob Woodruff Foundation

WASHINGTON, DC – Student Veterans of America proudly announces its 2nd anniversary, its growth to 246 chapters in only two years and the beginning of its partnership with the Bob Woodruff Foundation to assist veterans succeed in attaining a college degree. [click here to view] (http://studentveterans.org/news/?p=382)

Philosophy Remind u.s. BWF product.

Remind.org — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:47:37 -0500

This makes a great gift![click here to view] (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/34498692#34498692)

BWF's CFO is CFO of the Year! (Association Bisnow)

Remind.org — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:37:29 -0500

Yesterday, we attended The Oscars for accountants—the annual CFO of the Year Awards. The luncheon was held on Day 2 of the Greater Washington Society of CPAs' Not for Profit Organization Symposium at the Mayflower. So, who are the Kate Winslets and Sean Penns of the financial non-profit world?

Bob Woodruff Foundation's Alexis George took the Rising Star award. (There’s Bob, former ABC World News anchor, off to the left.)This starlet joined the foundation months after its creation and developed its budgets and financial reporting system, while managing $6M in contribution and grant revenue. Alexis oversaw distribution of $3.4M in spending and has managed to keep administrative expenses to 7%. In congratulating Alexis, Bob said, "If you don't mind, I'd like you to run for President of the United States." [click here to view] (http://www.bisnow.com/washington_dc_trade_association_news_story.php?p=6429)

PayPal Quarterly Non-Profit Newsletter

Remind.org — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:22:50 -0500

Instead of asking for donors to dig deep into their pockets, Tweet to ReMIND asked for contributions of just $11.11, the date of Veteran's Day this year. For similar initiatives, the organization has asked people to donate as little as $1.25. While the amounts individuals donate may be modest, Bardorf's expectations for the Tweet to ReMIND campaign weren't. "Our goal was to raise $1.9 million during Veteran's Day," she says. "We want to get into the hearts and minds of people who can't make big donations – every dollar really does count. click here to view

Brian Williams to host 'Stand Up for Heroes'

Remind.org — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:04:21 -0400

Third annual benefit to be held November 4 By Georg Szalai Oct 7, 2009, 10:01 AM ET

NEW YORK -- The Bob Woodruff Foundation and The New York Comedy Festival named Brian Williams as the host for the third annual "Stand Up for Heroes" benefit this November.

Williams will introduce performances by such stars as Louis C.K., Stephen Colbert, Lisa Lampanelli, John Ondrasik, Bruce Springsteen and surprise guests at Town Hall on Nov. 4.

As in past years, all living presidents have officially expressed their support to the "Stand Up for Heroes" event, meaning President Obama has joined the Presidential Committee for this year's benefit.

Among major entertainment industry executives serving as co-chairs are CNN's Jon Klein, CBS's Sean McManus, ABC's Anne Sweeney and David Westin, HBO's Richard Plepler and NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker. [click here to view more] (http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/events/brian_williams_hosting_stand_up_for_heroes_event_139491.asp?c=rss)

Plastic surgeons offer help to veterans (Union-Tribune)

Remind.org — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:40:22 -0400

SAN DIEGO — A major group of plastic surgeons meeting in San Diego launched a national program yesterday to give free consultations and low-cost surgeries to veterans who suffered facial injuries in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Doctors attending the academy's conference at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel heard from Bob Woodruff, an ABC News reporter who was nearly killed on Jan. 29, 2006, in Iraq, when shrapnel and rocks from a roadside bomb tore through the left side of his skull and face. [click here to view] (http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/oct/02/plastic-surgeons-offer-help-veterans/?metro&zIndex=175914)

Achilles-One of BWF's grantees in the Montreal Marathon

Remind.org — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:45:46 -0400

Along the way, Salas also spoke to athletes who are veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Joe Beimfohr fought in the Iraq war and became a double amputee after an explosion in July 2005.

He said disabled veterans are thankful for the opportunity to participate in marathons.

"It's really a confidence builder for the guys who are going through therapy," he said. click here to view

Watch Executive Director of BWF, Rene Bardorf as she talks about Social Media for Non-Profits

Remind.org — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:24:29 -0400

User name: Comcast Password: seminar click here to view

Nancy Loo Skydives With Soldiers for a Good Cause (myFOX Chicago)

Remind.org — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:25:25 -0400

Loo Dedicated Her Jump to Remind.org

The Chicago Air and Water Show is set to wow the crowds along the lakefront this weekend. And once again, it will feature the Army's Golden Knights Parachute Team. [click here to view] (http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/loo_skydive)

BWF's Grantee Steven Schulz on the road to recovery with Horse for Heroes(click2houston.com)

Remind.org — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:23:43 -0400

click here to view

ABC's Bob Woodruff reports:

Remind.org — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:53:09 -0400

Today I have traveled back to Iraq for the first time since I was injured with my cameraman, Doug Vogt, three years ago. It has not been an easy decision to make this trip. I have deliberated with my family, my colleagues at ABC News and the US Military, with whom I am traveling. [click here to view] (http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/07/bob-woodruff-why-ive-gone-back-to-iraq.html)

Check out PARADE Magazine this Sunday!

Remind.org — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:39:05 -0400

This Sunday, check out PARADE magazine in your local newspaper. It's an article Lee Woodruff wrote about cognitive rehabilitation and brain injury. You might see someone you know on the cover.

BWF Charitable and Individual Grantees on NBC Nightly News

Remind.org — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:08:32 -0400

Veterans Airlift Command Staff Sergeant Jose Pequeno

click here to view video

Text is below

NBC June 22, 2009 What Works NBC Nightly News, 7:00 PM

BRIAN WILLIAMS: We’re back now with our “What Works” segment. Tonight it’s all about helping some folks who have given a lot to all of us, the men and women of the U.S. armed forces, who, some of them have traveled the world to serve their country. For those who come home wounded from this nation’s conflicts, it’s often not easy to get around, and our own Natalie Morales has the story of one man who decided to do something about that.

NATALIE MORALES: Captain Nathan Walden lost his leg to an IED in Baghdad two years ago. He’s been recovering at Walter Reed ever since. His spirits are high because he’s headed home to South Carolina for a short visit.

STEPHANIE GREENBERG: Are your parents meeting you, is that it?

MORALES: Husband and wife pilots Stephanie and Irwin Greenberg, are volunteering their skills and their plane to get him there. The three were brought together by Walt Fricke. Wounded in Vietnam, he spent six months recovering in a hospital more than 600 miles away from his family.

WALT FRICKE: I wasn’t doing well, quite frankly, until my family gathered the resources to come and see me.

MORALES: Wanting to make things easier for this generation of wounded warriors, Fricke started the Veterans Airlift Command.

FRICKE: If they the buy the fuel, it’s their aircraft, they’re donating their time and aircraft for the purpose of the flight.

MORALES: Fricke now has 1,000 volunteer pilots who have flown more than 720,000 miles.

S. GREENBERG: You’re so excited that you get to do something finally for somebody else who’s really sacrificed way more than we ever can imagine.

CPT. NATHAN WALDEN: Which leg. I mean she –

MORALES: A win for Captain Walden, too, able to skip the cost and time-consuming process of traveling with a prosthetic leg.

WALDEN: You’re going to have to get run through, you know, various screenings, x-rays, the bomb swipes, the whole spiel.

MORALES: And it’s more than a matter of convenience. Some of the most severely injured would never be able to fly commercially. The Veterans Airlift Command is able to take care of some of their special needs. Like the flight bringing Staff Sergeant Jose Pequeno and his family to a ceremony honoring him in Washington, D.C. One of the most traumatically injured survivors, Pequeno lost almost half of the left side of his brain to a grenade explosion in Ramadi three years ago.

NELDA BAGLEY [Jose’s Mother]: He got the fire department to come and help get Jose in the plane. He found a way to get the wheelchair in the back of the plane. It was amazing.

MORALES: Pequeno is unable to speak, but his mother says she could see her son’s joy as they took off. BAGLEY: I (fully ?) believe that at that time my son felt a freedom that he hasn’t had for about three years now or more.

MORALES: A moment in time she says she will never forget. And neither will this father forget this happy homecoming thanks to the Veterans Airlift Command. Natalie Morales, NBC News, Washington, D.C.

WILLIAMS: We can never do enough for them

The importance of remembering (Intelligent Dialogue)

Remind.org — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:10:54 -0400

Anybody I’m connected with on Twitter or Facebook has surely noticed me giving lots of character-love to the troops-supporting fundraiser Tweet to ReMIND, which kicked off Memorial Day weekend and hits fever pitch as we approach the Fourth of July Weekend. It’s a vital project that’s harnessing social media to give back to the men and women who have risked their lives serving in Iraq and Afghanistan—many of whom are now coming home with physical and psychological injuries none of us can see. [click here to view] (http://pnintelligentdialogue.com/archives/734)

Sox and charities: The May edition (Fenway West)

Remind.org — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:05:56 -0400

Yes, I know June is almost over...but I never reported about the donations for the May Sox wins. Since Memorial Day was in the month of May, I wanted to make the donation that in some way honored the troops. There are so many organizations out there that do wonderful things for the men and women in service...but I was able to narrow it down to one. [click here to view] (http://www.fenwaywest.com/2009/06/sox-and-charities-may-edition.html)

Celebrity Recovery (PsychCentral)

Remind.org — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:46:24 -0400

Lee Woodruff, author and contributing editor at Good Morning America, speaks about her experience with depression and anxiety after her husband Bob Woodruff acquired a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Iraq. The couple received a McLean Award for “…exceptional courage facing psychological challenges after a traumatic brain injury, for their efforts to further public understanding of brain illness, and for fighting to reduce the stigma of mental illness.” [click here to view] (http://blogs.psychcentral.com/channeln/2009/06/celebrity-recovery.html)

Event free for military families(Houston Chronicle)

Remind.org — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:09:45 -0400

From a press release:

Earlier this month, Congress passed a bipartisan resolution designating 2009 the "Year of the Military Family" nationwide. In recognition of local military family members, Lee Woodruff, the New York Times best-selling author, family life contributor to ABC's "Good Morning America" and wife of gravely injured ABC news anchor Bob Woodruff, will share her insights on "Our Unsung Heroes: Military Families and Caregivers" on Wednesday, June 17, from 7-8 p.m. at Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby St., Houston 77002. A book-signing session will follow.

Following her memoir of healing In an Instant, coauthored with her husband, Lee recently published Perfectly Imperfect: A Life in Progress for Random House. Lee and Bob have also established the Bob Woodruff Family Fund for Traumatic Brain Injury to raise money to assist members of the military with cognitive rehabilitation and other care needs following traumatic brain injury suffered in service to their country.

The evening with Lee Woodruff is free and open to all military family members and uniformed service retirees from throughout southeast Texas. To RSVP, call the US Family Health Plan, which delivers Department of Defense-sponsored healthcare benefits to local military families through CHRISTUS Health in Houston, toll-free at 1-888-780-1943 by Tuesday, June 16 at 5 p.m.

More than 12,000 military family members in this area receive their healthcare benefits through the US Family Health Plan network, which includes more than 800 physicians. The health plan recently added The Methodist Hospital and North Cypress Medical Center to its roster of participating hospitals, increasing local military families' access to convenient, quality healthcare services.

Perfectly Imperfect: Up close with Lee Woodruff (LiveWellEveryDay-radio-WD)

Remind.org — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:35:59 -0400

06/15/09 at 12:00pm Jane will be talking with Lee Woodruff author of "Perfectly Imperfect", and lifestyle and family contributor to Good Morning America. Lee will share an intimate look into the imperfections of family life as she shares how she balances being wife to ABC journalist Bob Woodruff, mother, daughter, and friend. We will also discuss the Bob Woodruff Foundation, Remind.org, and how you can get involved to help our Service men and women.

2009 Building Bridges Gala (Manhattan Society)

Remind.org — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:42:26 -0400

MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION OF New York City (MHA of NYC): 2009 Building Bridges Gala. The Mental Health Association of NYC honored Lee Woodruff and Bob Woodruff at their 2009 Building Bridges Gala on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at Guastavino’s, 409 East 59th Street (between First and York Avenues), New York City, NY. [click here to view] (http://manhattan.smugmug.com/gallery/8427031_wResc#553646432_FqvwP)

Using Twitter to Do Good -How a nonprofit is leveraging social media to raise money(AdWeek)

Remind.org — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:54:30 -0400

Using Twitter to Do Good -How a nonprofit is leveraging social media to raise money AdWeek May 31, 2009 By Eleftheria Parpis

The Bob Woodruff Foundation, a nonprofit supporting wounded soldiers that had raised money and awareness mainly through an annual comedy event, has a new -- and ambitious -- goal: To raise $1.65 million, or $1 for every American soldier who has served in Afghanistan and Iraq since 9/11 through a Twitter campaign.

To do so, the foundation is joining an increasing number of brands -- including Target and Kraft -- which are using social media to raise money.

When the effort launched in early May, the plan was to focus on Twitter with a Memorial Day weekend initiative called "TweetToRemind." (The name is a play on the foundation's "ReMind" branding campaign that launched in November 2008 with pro-bono help from JWT's Atlanta office.) As the holiday approached, however, it became clear that other platforms would be needed-and the Memorial Day weekend deadline was extended to July 4.

Twitter "is an awesome way to get the impulsive donor and the repeat small donor," says Marian Salzman, partner and CMO of Porter Novelli, who was working at JWT when she introduced agency CEO Bob Jeffrey to Bob and Lee Woodruff. "It's also a terrific tool for education and message reinforcement. [But] we didn't get some of our folks on Twitter just because of demographics -- [they were] too young [teens] and too old [boomers]. ... We moved across platforms."

Lee Woodruff, co-founder of the foundation with her husband Bob, the ABC anchor and journalist who suffered a near-fatal brain injury while covering the war in Iraq, says of the Twitter initiative, "[President] Obama [and his online campaign] ... changed the game. We thought, 'Why not bring that to fundraising ... make it also something younger folks can get their arms around?'" But while Twitter is "a hot medium," she adds, she found that many of the people she interacted with on her book tours and at foundation events were not Twitter users. "We still needed to use regular media, Facebook, YouTube, the Web site and e-mail. We needed to round it out," she says.

To help engage teens, two of the Woodruff's four children, Mack, 17, and Cathryn, 15, led a group of 525 teens called the Tweet Team. Each member pledged $5.25 and worked to raise $100 over the weekend by recruiting 100 of their friends. They also sent at least one tweet each day to ensure that wounded veterans would remain in Americans' thoughts.

Over the holiday the organization raised more than $75,000, with $45,000 coming from the TweetToRemind site and $30,000 from ReMind.org. Three days after Memorial Day, the donations reached over $100,000.

With two "Stand Up for Heroes" comedy fundraisers behind them, the foundation wanted to find a way to extend awareness beyond Veteran's Day, around the time when the yearly benefit is held.

So the foundation and its communications team -- including JWT and Porter Novelli -- turned to social media. The "ReMind" branding campaign includes a web site, print ads, online videos and branded merchandise (such as the necklace pictured above).

"Bob is a media celebrity and everyone knows his story, but we needed to transition into a broader, more relevant story for the common soldier," says JWT's Jeffrey. "It was important that we create the educational part of the foundation, ReMind.org."

The challenge in this public-awareness initiative, say the team members, is getting people to separate the war and its political baggage from the experience of the soldiers.

"It's hard to get people to believe they can actually make a difference for military families," says Salzman. "The idea is that it's not about the war, it's about the warrior."

For JWT, "It's not only a humanitarian effort, but a learning experience about how to use social media to get responses from consumers, especially the younger ones,"says Jeffrey.

While the $1.65 million -- if the goal is reached -- will go a long way towards helping veterans rehabilitate upon their return, the conversation and public awareness the campaign helps raise is also critical, say those involved in the effort.

René Bardorf, executive director of the Bob Woodruff Foundation, says while they "really hope we reach that goal," it's just as important to get the word out about the veterans. "We owe it to the service members and their families to talk about it," she says.

Speaking at holiday parade in Hague, N.Y., a town of about 1,000 residents, Woodruff says she realized "it's going to take everything," including good old-fashioned pass-the-bucket-style fundraising, to reach their goal. She says she walked away with $90 in donations just from people who walked up to her with dollar bills.

"One of the things we came out of Memorial Day realizing was the importance of parades in small-town America." she says, which is why the foundation plans to arm teens with buckets to pass around during parades. "It's up to every American to help our wounded heal, and we feel like we can do this community by community."

Greenwich teens tweet for soldiers (Greenwich Time)

Remind.org — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:45:56 -0400

Why do you tweet?

This Memorial Day weekend 525 teens -- including three from Greenwich -- hope to raise $1.65 million for the Bob Woodruff Foundation by posting tweets on Twitter, part of a nationwide campaign to help wounded veterans. The program, "Tweet To ReMind," aims to raise awareness and provide resources for servicemen and -women with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder. [click here to view] (http://www.greenwichtime.com/ci_12423886)

Waging the Battle at Home (Huffington Post)

Remind.org — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:44:05 -0400

As we honor the brave men and women who defended our country throughout history, our thoughts will also be with our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the 35,000 here at home who have been physically injured since those conflicts began.

This Memorial Day, we should extend that honor to those who have sustained the hidden injuries of war. {click here to view] (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-woodruff/waging-the-battle-at-home_b_206869.html)

Commentary: Thank our soldiers with a dollar and a Tweet (CNNPolitics.com)

Remind.org — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:14:13 -0400

Lee Woodruff has collaborated with The Bob Woodruff Foundation and ReMIND.org to launch Tweet to ReMIND, hoping to harness the power and popularity of the Twitter community to tell Americans about the plight of injured U.S. veterans. [click here to view] (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/21/l.woodruff.mem.day/)

Kids of ABC News' Bob Woodruff Issue Memorial Day Weekend Call-To-Action Web Video Urging Teens to Tweet, Facebook, Donate $5.25 to Support Injured U.S. Troops (PRNewswire)

Remind.org — Tue, 26 May 2009 11:33:34 -0400

Mack, Cathryn, Nora and Claire Woodruff, whose dad is ABC News correspondent and ReMIND.org founder Bob Woodruff, today released a video http://tweettoremind.org/525-teens/ asking teens nationwide to join the 525 Teens movement for Memorial Day Weekend fundraiser Tweet to ReMIND. Starting today, Tweet to ReMIND aims to raise $1.65 million for U.S. troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq with injuries from service (that's one dollar for each service member deployed since 9/11). [click here to view] (http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-23-2009/0005031743&EDATE=)

Remind.org Launches "Tweet to Remind" (CNBC)

Remind.org — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:03:40 -0400

Bob Woodruff and his wife Lee are teaming up with Twitter this Memorial Day weekend to remind Americans of the hundreds of thousands of men and women who serve their country. The Woodruffs discuss this partnership with CNBC click here to view

Salzman: This Memorial Day, Tweet To Remind (CNBC)

Remind.org — Fri, 22 May 2009 11:57:49 -0400

Anybody I’m connected with on Twitter or Facebook has surely noticed me giving lots of character-love to the online charity event Tweet to ReMIND, which hits fever pitch now as we approach Memorial Day Weekend click here to view

Lee Woodruff joined us at the Four Seasons (Hooks Bookevents)

Remind.org — Tue, 26 May 2009 11:01:51 -0400

Hooks Book Events produced its first salon at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown this past week with our new best friend, Lee Woodruff. The author and activist who supports the troops through her nonprofit organization www.remind.org" charmed us with readings from her new book "Perfectly Imperfect" and with stories about her life with her children and husband, ABC News reporter Bob Woodruff, who suffered a severe brain injury in 2006 while covering the War in Iraq. "He's my miracle man," she said. [click here to view] (http://hooksbookevents.blogspot.com/2009/05/may-19-lee-woodruff-joined-us-at-four.html)

Tweet to ReMIND (Marketing to Small Business)

Remind.org — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:52:14 -0400

Today, I am taking time off from talking about small business issues and the opportunities to market to this audience segment to instead focus on a great cause called Tweet to Remind (http://tweettoremind.org/). [click here to view] (http://marketingtosmallbiz.blogspot.com/2009/05/tweet-to-remind.html)

Nightline Twittercast on Veterans (NIGHTLINE ONLINE)

Remind.org — Fri, 22 May 2009 09:29:02 -0400

Bob Woodruff and guest discuss veteran care in American and Tweet to ReMIND (5/20) click here to view

Lee Woodruff talks about her book and ReMIND.org

Remind.org — Fri, 22 May 2009 09:13:06 -0400

click here to view

Money Talks: Tweet for Charity! Bob Woodruff’s Tweet to ReMIND (WomensDay)

Remind.org — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:14:19 -0400

The great thing about using some of these money-saving techniques we’ve been blogging about is that you can have a bit of extra money to spend in other areas. I’m going to forgo just two 3 p.m. runs to Starbucks in order to donate to ReMIND.org this weekend. click here to view

Bob And Lee Woodruff Kick Off Holiday Weekend Twitter Fundraiser (MediaBistro’s Fishbowl NYC)

Remind.org — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:58:21 -0400

ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff and his wife Lee hosted a breakfast this morning to kick off their Memorial Day Twitter fundraiser Tweet To Remind.

Tweet To Remind seeks to raise awareness of the Woodruffs' organization Remind.org through Twitter hashtags, word of mouth and retweeting. They are hoping to make "#tweettoremind" the number one trending topic on Twitter over the long weekend. The campaign encourages everyone to donate $5.25 to the cause, in celebration of the date of this year's Memorial Day: 5/25.

At the kick-off breakfast this morning, Bob and Lee showed a few videos illustrating the work done by Remind.org and the Bob Woodruff Foundation, including giving money to injured veterans and their families. The cause is close to the Woodruffs' heart, since Bob survived an IED explosion three years ago while working as a war correspondent, which left him with permanent brain damage.

"The Bob Woodruff Foundation was established because we got so lucky as a family," Lee Woodruff said. "And living in Bethesda Naval Hospital for the five weeks that Bob was in his coma, we saw many of these other families and the struggles they have to face."

Although getting #tweettoremind to be the number one trending topic on Twitter this weekend may not directly translate into donations for the cause, Remind.org has already raised $16,000 since kicking off their Twitter fundraising campaign three weeks ago. Lee said she hopes to extend Tweet To Remind through July 4, another long holiday weekend that honors American servicemen and women.

This weekend, Lee will be heading up to the Woodruffs' house near Lake George, where she will participate in a small town Memorial Day parade as a stand-in for Bob, who will be out of town working on an assignment, she said.

Although Bob no longer works as a war correspondent, he's been keeping busy with stories about climate change and veterans. He is currently working with ABC and Planet Green.

"I'm addicted to in-depth pieces and international stories," Bob said, noting that even since his injury he has traveled to Cuba, Syria, Africa and Brazil. He said he recently worked on a piece in St. John about a company that helps injured veterans with missing limbs scuba dive.

Just An Online Minute... Don't Forget To ReMIND.org (MediaPost Blogs)

Remind.org — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:12:37 -0400

I'm not a crier. When I sliced through my thumb two nights ago, I didn't cry, but I almost horked. However, it is guaranteed that when the morning news features a soldier surprising his kid at school with his return, my mouth does that uncomfortable wiggle wobble and my eyes sting with heartache when that kid just bawls with happiness to see his dad (or his mom, but I've only seen the dad surprises) come through the door. Sometimes I have to change the channel, or in the case of soldiers young and old returning with less of themselves that they shipped off with, I turn away. Those soldiers and their families can't turn away or change the channel, it's their lives. And guess what? What lies beneath the physical injuries is the psychological damage. This is why Bob and Lee Woodruff started the Bob Woodruff Foundation and co-founded ReMIND.org -- so that those of us who change the channel don't forget that these people still need help and support after the parades, ceremonies, and hospital stays. This is also why they're using social media channels like Twitter and Facebook not only to get the message in front of millions of people, but also to make it easy to understand and contribute. click here to view

LEE WOODRUFF: Help Us Heal the Wounds of Our Veterans and Service Members (Fox Forum)

Remind.org — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:37:37 -0400

How many of us this Memorial Day will stop to honor not only the veterans of previous wars, but the 1.65 million who have returned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Some of us went to war and the rest of America went shopping,” Rene Bardorf, Executive Director of the Bob Woodruff Foundation, said to me once and it has stayed with me. Her husband, a Marine colonel has been deployed twice. While she single-parents their two children in Virginia, he is now posted in California. Her family has made sacrifice after sacrifice during war time. This holiday weekend has a different meaning for them.[click here to view] (http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/05/21/woodruff_lee_memorial_day/)

Journalist lends hand to military veterans (MSNBC)

Remind.org — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:54:28 -0400

Cause Celeb highlights a celebrity’s work on behalf of a specific cause. This week, we speak with journalist Bob Woodruff and his wife Lee about the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which helps military veterans heal from the physical and psychological wounds of war, and ReMIND.org's " Tweet to ReMIND" campaign to raise money for the needs of returning service members. [click here to view] (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30810187/)

Tweet to ReMIND kicks off (PR WEEK)

Remind.org — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:51:57 -0400

I attended the media kick-off event for The Bob Woodruff Foundation’s Tweet to ReMIND campaign, a Memorial Day fundraising campaignusing online media. The campaign encourages people to make a small donation—anywhere from $1 up—to benefit service members who are suffering from physical and psychological injuries incurred during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bob Woodruff was on hand, along with wife Lee, to talk about the Foundation and the campaign. [click here to view] (http://thecycle.prweekblogs.com/2009/05/21/tweet-to-remind-kicks-off/)

525 Teens to Support "Tweet To ReMIND" Memorial Day Fundraiser for U.S Service Members

Remind.org — Wed, 20 May 2009 09:41:51 -0400

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:

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

BWF/Tweet to ReMIND Interview on blogtalkradio

Remind.org — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:26:10 -0400

Exec Director of BWF, Rene Bardorf, interivewed with blogtalkradio. Episode #38 [click here to view] (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/youserved)

Lee Woodruff on the Bonnie Hunt Show!

Remind.org — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:53:03 -0400

[click here to view] (http://www.bonniehunt.com/promos/wednesday_may_13th-james_den.php#asos3)

eMail Our Military blogged Tweet to ReMIND

Remind.org — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:41:22 -0400

[click here to view] (http://emailourmilitary.blogspot.com/2009/05/tweet-to-remind-and-support-our-wounded.html)

Tweet to ReMIND in the New York Times!

Remind.org — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:36:41 -0400

[cick here to view] (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/us/10contest.html?_r=1&ref=global-home)

Flash activists use social media to drum up support - Tweet to ReMIND Campaign

Remind.org — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:32:01 -0400

Flash activists use social media to drum up support
By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO — When the California Supreme Court convenes soon to rule on the constitutionality of a controversial state proposition banning gay marriage, Amy Balliett and thousands of her online friends plan to be heard.

The Seattle-based online marketer is part of a new wave of protesters, called "flash activists," who use an arsenal of social-media tools — Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, blogs and Wikis to organize hundreds — sometimes thousands — of people to gather at events and express their views.

Balliett, 26, won't predict the turnout when the court rules, but she is confident that her protest will create widespread awareness. She's done it before, organizing a protest of 1 million people in 300 cities across 11 countries in mid-November, shortly after California voters passed Proposition 8.

No longer is social networking just for gossiping, hobnobbing or telling your friends what you had for breakfast. Increasingly, it has become an effective communications tool to mobilize masses to effect change in politics, TV and fundraising.

The virtual grass-roots movement comes during an era when President Obama — no tech slouch himself — as a presidential candidate raised millions of dollars in donations and recruited millions of volunteers through websites and social-networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

Flash activism is "another great way to use our technology to organize people who are fighting passionately for a cause," says Ben Elowitz, CEO of Wetpaint, a website-building service used by social activists.

"We used to use phones and faxes. The tools today on the Internet are so much better," says gay-rights activist Robin Tyler. "It's not even close."

To be sure, not every campaign is a slam-dunk. Social causes require more than just snazzy media tools. They need compelling issues, impassioned people and streetwise organization.

"Any social-media push — whether it is political or fundraising — if you don't believe in what you're saying, it won't work," says Gradon Tripp, co-founder of Social Media for Social Change, whose fundraisers benefit local charities in the USA. "You need a strong base of supporters."

Mobilizing forces online

The proof is in the numbers: 81% of members of online communities use the Internet to participate in social causes, up from 75% in 2007, finds a survey by the Center for the Digital Future at University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication.

They include folks like Balliett, who deployed Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Wikis to get protesters in the streets and gather signatures of support last year.

"It just snowballed," she says. "We assumed we could get maybe 10,000 people involved."

Social-networking netizens are banding together for:

•Political causes. Outside the U.S., protesters in Moldova used Twitter as a rallying tool to bring attention to claims that an election that returned the Communist Party to power was rigged in that little-known country.

German native Bijan Zendeh late last year created a Facebook community to petition the Iranian government to free American-Iranian student Esha Momeni from jail. Within two days, 200 people joined the group. On Nov. 11, Momeni, who was imprisoned for "propaganda against the state," was released on bail.

•Saving TV shows. It used to take massive letter-writing campaigns to occasionally keep TV shows with small but loyal followings on the air. Now, viral online campaigns are common.

NBC's critically acclaimed Friday Night Lights suffered from poor ratings. When NBC considered pulling the plug, a vocal group of viewers — who created fan pages on MySpace and Facebook — protested. It moved to DirecTV and returned to NBC.

NBC's Chuck may also be brought back, thanks to a Twitter campaign by fans.

Sometimes, the campaigns fall short. Fans of the Fox sci-fi series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles joined forces on websites, created communities on Facebook and MySpace, and uploaded videos to YouTube to keep the show on the air.

Amy Cartas, 27, of Riverside, Calif., last month uploaded a video in support of the show to YouTube. So far, 13,000 have viewed it.

"We're trying to reach Fox, (its producer) Warner Bros. and Halcyon, which owns the rights to the Terminator franchise," says Bill Flynn, 62, a retiree in Clarkston, Mich., who is moderator of a Terminator Wiki site with 5,000 members.

Fox, however, is expected to cancel the show.

•Fundraising. Social-media tools make it easier to reach more people who, in turn, contribute cash and checks in small denominations. Before, fundraisers often checked their personal Rolodexes for big donors. One fertile new form of money gathering: so-called Tweetups, where Twitter members convene and kick in money for a cause.

"The big change is not so much technology but connecting people to people," says Beth Kanter, a social-media consultant to non-profits.

She has raised $200,000 the past three years via social-media campaigns for Cambodian orphans.

TweettoRemind.org, ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff's foundation that helps wounded military personnel transition back into society, hopes to raise $1.65 million by May 25 — primarily through Twitter.

Woodruff was seriously injured covering the Iraq war in 2006.

"The modern way for raising more and more money is through social media," says Woodruff. "Before, it may have come from contacting someone on the phone and getting a big check or cash."

Still, a few high-profile social-media campaigns don't mean success is guaranteed, activists and organizers warn. A movement, after all, requires a compelling reason to turn out.

In March, anti-Proposition 8 organizers said 100,000 would march on the streets of San Francisco during a Supreme Court hearing. Less than 10,000 showed up.

That should serve as a cautionary tale for would-be protest organizers, activists say.

"Don't set expectations too high all the time," says Tyler, 67, one of the first gay people to get married in San Francisco, in February 2004. "The November organization (that drew 1 million worldwide) was at the right time and place. It was a historic moment, and people were angry."

Adds fundraiser Kanter, "In the end, fundraising has as much to do with people skills as with tech tools."

The Art of Being 'Perfectly Imperfect'

Remind.org — Thu, 07 May 2009 10:16:53 -0400

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," , May 5, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: A very special guest is here in Washington to go "On the Record," "New York Times" best-selling author Lee Woodruff. Lee and her husband, of course, ABC reporter Bob Woodruff, co-wrote the number one bestseller "In an instant."

Lee's new book is "Perfectly Imperfect, a Life in Parts." And I knew you'd be back with a new book. I knew it because I loved the first one, and I love this one.

(LAUGHTER)

LEE WOODRUFF, AUTHOR, "PERFECTLY IMPERFECT": Good.

VAN SUSTEREN: We have to start with the title. Whose idea?

WOODRUFF: Yes. You know, it was a collaboration with my editor and myself, because she looked at the whole collection, and she said "This is really just about life, a life that is never perfect, that never goes as planned." So you increase the imperfect.

VAN SUSTEREN: It is so interesting reading the book. I love all the family stories that start off. I think it was Orlando at Disney World.

And then it also goes through the pain, and I do not mean to jump at this, but I have so many questions for you, with Mel.

WOODRUFF: Yes, Melanie Bloom, the widow of David Bloom, yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: The two of you.

WOODRUFF: The tow of us. And that's really a chapter for anybody who has got a best friend and who has gone through something with that friend that pulls you together, whether it's a bad divorce or loss of child. We all have friends that have taken us through hard times.

This is sort of an homage to that. And, then, of course, it has the very happy ending of Melanie remarrying a little more than a year ago. And there is redemption after a horrible tragedy.

VAN SUSTEREN: But it is so well-written that you feel like -- there is one scene where you and Mel, I think, are sitting in baggage claim someplace --

WOODRUFF: Here.

VAN SUSTEREN: Here at the baggage claim, just the two of you. And I felt like a voyeur, like I was there. You could feel the scene on that one.

WOODRUFF: That's a compliment.

VAN SUSTEREN: The two of you -- I guess you were friends before, but the circumstances certainly --

WOODRUFF: We were friends before, and the same war takes two different guys in two different ways, loves of our life.

And we were sort of sitting there, I'll never forget that, right here in Washington, just sort of shell shocked, like, "Wow, did this really happen?" A few years ago we were all just playing tennis and raising our babies.

VAN SUSTEREN: And now, of course, Bob, who is doing very well, I might add.

WOODRUFF: He's doing amazing. Back on the air on ABC and running around chasing stories and chasing kids.

VAN SUSTEREN: Of course, he got the interview we all wanted, John Edwards. But that's another story.

(LAUGHTER)

We talked about off-camera how he beat everyone. The other thing that is interesting is the multitasking.

WOODRUFF: Yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: You're like -- mothers are air-traffic controllers at O'Hare with all of the planes coming in at once.

WOODRUFF: All the work we do now in the area of brain injury for our vets, I can tell you so much about the brain. But you probably know this - - women's brains truly are calibrated differently than men. They have found that physiologically, we are just simply able to do more things at once than men. So you can feel superior.

VAN SUSTEREN: Bob, I take it, has read the book?

WOODRUFF: Bob has read the book. And he writes the introduction. And my kids have only read the parts that apply to them. I forced them to read it so that they wouldn't end up on the couch years from now blaming me.

VAN SUSTEREN: How old are they?

WOODRUFF: Mac is 17. He's heading off to college in the fall. Katherine is 15, and the twins just turned nine.

VAN SUSTEREN: It is interesting how you talk about when they are babies and you could touch them when they were naked. Now everyone is running all covered up, and everything. The family, the mother, all these roles sort of change.

WOODRUFF: They do change. And I think that that's part of the book, at least people tell me, it celebrates the different phases and the different roles that we have as parents, as girlfriend, as child, as spouse.

And you put all those things together, and they defined sort of a life. And these are little moments. Collectively seen, there are things that we can all connect to.

VAN SUSTEREN: This is a great book for Mother's Day. I recommend it to all the viewers.

Also, I can't let you go without talking about the foundation for brain injured vets.

WOODRUFF: Thank you. Yes, the BobWoodruffFoundationReminds.org. And we're asking everyone to twitter. Go to tweettoremind.org. If someone risked their life for you, would you give them a dollar? When you twitter over Memorial Day weekend, you give a dollar to our foundation, which goes 100 percent to a wounded veteran and their family.

We owe these guys big.

VAN SUSTEREN: So you must twitter over Memorial Day. And if you forget, where do you go again?

WOODRUFF: Go to remind.org.

VAN SUSTEREN: I will also blog about it in case anyone is not marking it down--Remind.org.

WOODRUFF: Thank you.

VAN SUSTEREN: Lee, great book. Everyone's going to be reading it on Mother's Day and more. Always nice to see you, tell Bob --

WOODRUFF: Love seeing you. I will.

Excerpt: 'Perfectly Imperfect: A Life in Progress'

Remind.org — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:23:36 -0400

ABC News Excerpt: 'Perfectly Imperfect: A Life in Progress' Lee Woodruff's New Book Is a Series of Essays on Motherhood and Love

Author Lee Woodruff, wife of ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff, has complied a collection of essays about being a mother to her four children and a loving wife.

In "Perfectly Imperfect: A Life in Progress" Woodruff acknowledges she doesn't always know the right answers, but she describes with ease her parenting relationship with her oldest children and her younger daughter's deafness.

Read an excerpt of her book below.

Chapter Five The Jewelry Box You can tell a woman's whole life story from the possessions in her jewelry box. Like reading a palm, you can trace the points where her life has intersected with memorable events, people, places, and loves. You can mark the consequential and the inconsequential, you can divine a sense of her self and her own self- image, you can spot whimsy, mistakes, milestones, and passages. You can speculate on the essence of her personality, all from what she has accumulated in that box.

The silver twisted snake ring I made at camp, the sophisticated metal charm bracelet with the Chinese fan from a fifth- grade birthday, the serious pearl earrings for college graduation, the silver bangle bracelets I wore on my right arm as a teenager coming of age, bought one summer in VermontI treasured all of these, although they had passed from objects of adornment into relics of the past, like a threedimensional scrapbook.

I'd had that jewelry box for as long as I could remember. It had been purchased at a Woolworth's in Albany and had sat on my childhood dresser since my earliest memories. It was, to me, a most elegant thing: a thin veneer of navy blue leather covered the box, with some faux-Roman gold leaf pattern around the borders. On one corner the leather had ripped, revealing a flesh- colored patch, like skin, which I had once tried to color in with a marker.

A brass clasp at the front of the box made a snapping sound when I pressed the buttons on either side to open it. It had been years since I had officially shut it, and the closing mechanism hung straight out, like a tongue. The key had long ago been lost, so each time I packed to move, I wrapped a heavy rubber band around the box to make sure the contents were secure. The jewelry box was a present from my parents, although I've now forgotten why.

From the moment I had my first daughter, from the instant Cathryn was born, I'd harbored a vision of us splayed out on the floor with my jewelry box. I pictured us examining each piece I owned and my describing to her where it had come from, in great detail. I would use the jewelry to explain the stories of my life. I had saved them, in fact, for exactly this purpose.

As children, my two sisters and I had sat on the rug of my grandmother's living room, me cross- legged, my sister Meg on her stomach, legs bent back, chin in her hands. As my grandmother brought her jewelry box down to show us, my sister Nancy clapped her hands eagerly. There was treasure in that box, history and lore. Perhaps there were clues to my grandparents' marriage, the exotic places they had traveled, she a concert pianist and he a violinist, who accompanied her. Their lives had been so viscerally connected to music that in those moments when her fingers touched the piano keys and her eyes closed, it seemed to me that nothing else in the world existed for my grandmother. Not even us.

My grandmother was a mythical figure, not so much a nurturer but one who had been nurtured, like a hothouse plant. She had been raised in Magnolia, Arkansas, and had moved north to study music in college. It was there that she had met my grandfather, a "Yankee" and a musician, who couldn't have been her parents' first choice. In her closet were fur coats and full- length dresses for concert performances. She owned multiple pairs of long white gloves, so wildly out of place in Albany, New York, and her luggage had travel stickers on its side, identifying faraway places in the Orient and Europe. The whole package was so exotic, so unusual, that my sisters and I liked to imagine her journeys around the globe and the adventures she'd had. She loved to pronounce words in French, always drawing them out with her southern accent in a very affected way as she made us repeat them, a practice we loathed but tolerated. Her name was Margaret. No nickname. We called her Nana.

It was in the kitchen, her curling hair falling over one eye in the heat, that her southern roots really emerged. She melted sticks of butter for homemade pound cakes, put salt on watermelon, and boiled up thick okras that looked to us like soups of runny noses. She firmly believed that cooking with bacon grease was the key to mouthwatering food. There were lima beans fat as bumblebees simmered in milk, and buttery- yellow corn bread laced with ham bits. Her cooking connected us to a rich tradition of southern relatives we had only heard about in stories.

As we three sisters lay on the deep- red Oriental carpet, surely procured from some Asian jaunt, not yet into our teen years, we watched as Nana opened her large red lacquered jewelry box. Out of it she pulled ivory bracelets, ropes of beads, and Bakelite bangles. There were large brooches and rings festooned with semiprecious stones, horseshoe- shaped pins inset with tiny seed pearls, ones with leaf patternspieces that had been in the family for years.

As she laid the contents out on the rug, we watched the colors swirl in the Persian design and moved the items into piles, coveting the var-ious rings and bracelets, dreaming about being old enough to wear jewelry that for now was bigger than our fists, sophisticated and otherworldly. But the costume pieces in Nana's jewelry box were always the most fun. Jumbled all together in the box's velvet compartments, they represented the flashy flea- market side of life. They were bold colors and statements, items perhaps chosen on vacations by someone who had temporarily abdicated all of life's mundane responsibilities. A swordfish pin called to me. Made from bugle beads and sequins and sewn on a stiff cloth, it looked like something that had been purchased in the 1940s, all glamour and whimsy, designed with a sense of humor. The swordfish's bill was long and pointy, outlined with silver thread.

"I love this pin, Nana," I said, and she winked at me as she placed it back in the box.

"Perhaps someday it will be yours," she said mysteriously. And that Christmas it showed up under the tree with a scribbled note in my grandmother's loopy, flowing handwriting. I wore that swordfish pin the very first time I met my future in- laws. It was at a wedding in Michigan, and I was flying in to stay with Bob at his boyhood home. My roommate Nora and I had agonized over what I should wear to meet his parents. I was the "girl from New York," and I didn't want to arrive in the Midwest looking too slick. Nothing too fussy, too city, or too young. In the end I had selected a red dress in a kind of muted silk, with the giant linebacker shoulder pads that were so popular in the 1980s.

In a burst of individuality, something that would define me as a person with her own sense of self and style, I had impulsively chosen the swordfish pin from my jewelry box at the last minute. I'd pinned it jauntily at an angle on my lapel. Since then, that pin had always been a connection for me to that long- ago night, a reminder of how Bob and I had slow- danced to the band at the reception, how he had proudly introduced me to his parents, his three brothers, and his high school friends, and we'd snuck out under the club's awning to steal a kiss in the cooler air.

I had always pictured my daughter Cathryn fingering the swordfish pin, then picking up a pair of light blue aquamarine studs. "Tell me about these," I imagined Cathryn would say. And I'd remember that those earrings, from Macy's jewelry department when I turned sweet sixteen, had been the first pair of earrings my father had ever given me. Getting my ears pierced was one of those fulcrum passages in life. It seemed, at the time, to be the single most important thing I could do to look older, more sophisticated, maybe even pretty. While most of my friends had already gotten their ears pierced, my mother had decided that her daughters needed to wait until we were sixteen. And on this point, my mother could not be budged. It was the 1970s and hippies were changing the face of fashion, jewelry, and hair in a way that she found fundamentally jarring.

With the world shifting and revolution in the air, with rock 'n' roll, war protesters, civil rights, and busing, even in my traditional household we could sense that there was a sea change taking place out there. Respect was no longer a given, whether for elders, authority figures, or right and wrong; the old rules no longer applied. The carefully ordered white, middle- class world of the 1950s and early '60s was about to undergo a tectonic shift.

"Only ethnic people get their ears pierced," my mother said in an effort to dissuade me, and the comment makes me smile now. In my mother's eyes, real women were obviously expected to wear clip- ons. But all of the other girls in school were "putting holes in their bodies," as she referred to it. There were dangly earrings and hoops, peace signs, even the ubiquitous yellow smiley facesplus a hundred other designs I couldn't wait to hang from my ears.

On the Saturday following my sixteenth birthday, two of my girlfriends accompanied me to the department store in my Albany suburb of Delmar, where I would join the official ranks of body piercers. Some girls used ice cubes to numb their lobes at home, then pierced them with a needle and a cork, but I was enough of my mother's daughter to be wary of this. I went to the middle- aged woman in the officiallooking white lab coat standing stiffly behind the jewelry counter. I don't remember being nervous. I was only excited. It was like some kind of ritual preceding becoming a woman, and I was willing to suffer any measure of pain for my beauty.

"How does that look?" The makeup- counter employee in the white coat peered at me over her half-glasses, her sky- blue eye shadow so close to me that I could see the creases in the lids. She had drawn two small black dots with felt pen on my earlobes and kept turning my head, using my chin as a handle, to inspect her handiwork. "Fine," I said, too nervous to examine it carefully. The pain was fleeting. What I remember was the look of the two small gold balls gleaming off my ears. I was certain every person I encountered could see them. Years later, after Bob slipped an engagement ring on my finger, I had the same feeling. I felt the shiny newness of the engagement band, the tiny weight of the diamonds, and I was sure that everyone noticed my hands and my ring, gleaming like a beacon. To me, my two tiny specks of gold earrings glimmered on my body like the treasure uncovered at King Tut's tomb. They carried with them the promise that this small act would change my life. It was at home, in the fluorescent light of the bathroom mirror, that I realized with chagrin that my studs hung woefully unequally. On close inspection, one was much lower than the other. My attached earlobesa recessive genetic trait, as I'd learned in tenth- grade biologymade the inequity even more obvious. To this day, it is the first thing I see when I put on earrings in the mirror. It's the imperfection I spot first, the lopsided inequality that no one else would ever notice unless I pointed it out. I'd had those studs for all those years in my jewelry box. I probably hadn't worn them much after high school, but they were there. A reminder of the day that had inched me ever closer to being the young woman who would leave the nest, go on to college, and begin the next phase of the process of becoming herself.

That is why, when thieves broke into our house in Phoenix one warm, cloudless day, while we were in church, of all places, and the oleander blossoms on the back hedge were in full bloom, I lost not just my jewelry but a part of my living history.

Whoever they were, vagrants or professionals, they knew what they were doing. They entered through the kitchen window and hopped over the sink without disturbing the salt and pepper shakers on the sill. I picture them hurriedly, expertly searching the rooms for small, valuable items they could carry: a video camera containing footage of Mack learning how to ride a bike, an expensive still camera, and my jewelry box, sitting, in a naively trusting way, right on top of my dresser. Because they had no time, I imagine, they simply took the box in its entirety, along with one pillowcase stripped from our bed, an act of utter violation that angered and repelled me for weeks. "Couldn't they have brought their own sack?" I fumed helplessly at Bob. "Don't real robbers carry sacks and wear black eye masks?" I hated the idea that these men had touched my things, roughly opened my drawers and closets, rifled through shirts and undergarments. It was a transgression that was hard to articulate, because although I had not been touched, it made me feel dirty, angry, and victimized.

When I first discovered that the jewelry box was missing, my heart lurched. It wasn't so much that there were valuable pieces or one item I loved above all the others. It was the collective grouping of all of these bits of my life: the pewter owl necklace from my first boyfriend, ugly as sin but endearing; the outdated brooches and rings from Nana; the inexpensive chunky amethyst necklace that had so defined the 1980s as I set out to be a working girl in the big city. I let out a little cry when I realized that the blue box was gone. There was a rectangular space of clean wood around which the dust had collected, an outline of where the box had been. I felt naked, foolish, and momentarily angry for not having had some secret hiding place in which to stash my most beloved items, some special canister fashioned to look like a can of shaving cream or a fire extinguisher. But the truth was that all of my jewelry was valuable, even though collectively the pieces wouldn't have fetched enough at a pawnshop for a good steak dinner. Worse, they were probably lying, at that moment, in a back- alley trash can. The swordfish pin, my little blue studs, and some of Nana's other pieces that had ended up in my jewelry box after she died were all gone. I searched desperately through the backstreets of our Phoenix neighborhood that day, hoping the thieves had picked and chosen, abandoned the bulky box in their retreat. But it was a halfhearted quest; I knew those kinds of discoveries happened only in the movies. So the thieves had severed that connection, the one intended to pass, like a bloodline, from my grandmother to me and then to my daughter. The things Nana had passed on were now lost. The stories I had wanted to tell about my own girlish historythe pearls from my wedding, the opal necklace from a college boyfriend, the tiger's- eye ring set in silver I had made at summer campthese had vanished. I had wanted to lay them all out on a rug with her, to watch her finger ropes of necklaces or slip bangle bracelets on her own slim wrists and choose a favorite, as I had done. But I had lost the props. Something even more precious was stolen in Phoenix that same year. Something far more valuable than my jewelry, more priceless than the collection of all of the possessions that made up my girlhood. My ability to bear children, which had tied me to the cycles of the moon and to the sisterhood of women, would prove, in its absence, far more meaningful to me than one thousand rare gemstones or a mountain of gleaming gold coins.

After the hysterectomy at age thirty- five, which resulted from losing my third child, a son, I was instantly robbed not only of that little boy's future but my own chance to carry another child and to be a mother one more time. All at once I felt cronelike, barren, and neutered. This part of womanhood was a connection to my daughter and the other women in my life I had imagined I would have until my body wound down later in life. Like the jewelry box, I had given it little day- to- day thought until it was gone. My fertility was simply one more treasure that I took for granted until I no longer had it.

What once had seemed like a monthly inconvenience now hung in my waking mind like the brightest star in the solar system. As I had hoped to do with my jewelry, I wanted to share womanhood with Cathryn, to travel the road through cramps and buying Tampax together. How would I now one day claim that tangible communal connection to my daughter?

When the nurses had first brought Cathryn to me in the hospital, I'd held her little beanlike body and touched her shock of dark hair as we fell asleep together. Gazing at her face and her satisfied eyes searching mine I put my lips to her ear. "I'm going to teach you all the secrets of being a woman," I whispered. I thought of generations of mothers passing down the holiest parts of woman wisdom almost wordlessly. I thought about the connection between mother and daughter, the infinite love and the skeins of dreams. Motherhood had given me magic powers, as if I could mystically see the pain that lay ahead for her, along with her moments of triumph, anticipation, and desire. That day in the hospital, infused with the thrill of creation, I felt sure that I would coach her to navigate her way in the world and to demand from it all that she deserved.

I did go on to be a mother again, and our twin girls were born by a surrogate after a long and interrupted journey that often circled back on itself before we got that phone call with the great news. And one day I also got a new jewelry boxnothing fancy, or too big. Over time, I replaced the stolen items with new and different ones, buying pieces gradually and sometimes in bunches. One summer I bought a dozen earrings just to make up for my loss, but I never again found the trapezoid- shaped turquoise chunks that had stood out from my ears or the silver serpentine earrings that had hung halfway to my shoulders. And I should have known it was inevitable. By the time my own daughter reached the age of ten, she desperately wanted pierced ears, just like most of her friends. My initial pronouncement that she must be sixteen was weakening. My expectations, I was told, were out of sync with the times. Why was I so reluctant to see my daughter pierce her ears when it was all I had wanted at that age? How could I not have taken my own desires as a child and woven them into my perspective as a mother?

On some visceral maternal level, the world of piercings and tattoos, the rebellious artistic expressions of today's youth, terrified me. How had that little infant daughter with the milk- white skin transformed into this young, leggy beauty? I wanted to preserve her, wrap her in a protective cloak to keep her unmarred and pristine for as long as possible. When I finally took Cathryn to the women's holistic clinic with the physician's assistant to pierce her ears, part of me felt as if I were righting a wrong. There would be no beauty- school dropout, no lopsided holes. I would make sure they were even, that she wasn't worried or afraid of the sting. Getting her ears pierced was such a small thing, such a minor step forward on the road to independence, but perhaps I was nervous because it was the first move.

Cathryn was anxious; when she saw the piercing gun, she asked how much it would hurt. For a split second a look of fear flashed over her face, and I thought she might change her mind. Then she squinted and asked if she could hold my hand.

When the first hole was punched, Cathryn looked as surprised and indignant as if I had pinched her unexpectedly. Before the pain could really sink in, the woman with the gun quickly and efficiently pierced the other ear, and then it was done. There was one gleaming gold stud in each ear. Cathryn held the hand mirror, pulling her hair back into a ponytail to better see each side. This small, deliberate gesture made her look older somehow, instantly more mature. At home, I stressed that the new piercings were a privilege and a re-sponsibility and that having them meant she was old enough to care for them herself. She needed to clean them with alcohol and she would have to put athletic tape over each earring when she played soccer, according to school rules. "You'll need to be responsible so they don't get infected," I said. "And that means cleaning up after yourself." Two days after Cathryn's ears were pierced, one of my then fouryear-olds, Nora, came stumbling down the stairs in a panic. "Claire threw up!" she screeched. "She drank some yucky water." Instantly, I knew. As I sprang up the steps, two at a time, I understood that Cathryn had left the rubbing alcohol out and the twins, ever curious, had investigated. Sure enough, Claire was in the bathroom looking miserable and Nora began to chatter about how she had gone to take a sip herself but had known something was wrong. "I warned you!" I turned on Cathryn with wild eyes as I dialed the number for poison control. Her carelessness could have resulted in her sister's hospitalization. It was a teaching moment and the remorse was instant; her eyes filled with tears. For one oddly triumphant, hollow second, all of my nagging, chiding, and warnings seemed to be vindicated. We laugh about it now, the "yucky water," but Cathryn learned a double sense of responsibility that day through the simple act of piercing her ears. Not only was she in charge of herself, but her actions had consequences. She grew up more right then from what happened on the inside than the little gold studs on the outside could ever indicate. Not long ago, I found myself on my bed with my three daughters and my jewelry box. It wasn't at all the box of treasure it had once been. I was missing the detailed history of myself prior to age thirty- four. But as I pulled out costume relics from the 1980s and '90s that had survived in a junk jewelry bathroom drawer, my girls had saucer eyes. There was the bolero leather tie with the clasp made from a cactus postage stamp that had seemed like such a good idea on a business trip to New Mexico. I pulled out strands of big chunky fake gold chains, tarnished and heavy enough to have served as manacles. I gave my daughters my garnet beads and bracelets of green malachite from street vendors in the West Village of Manhattan. The twins oohed and aahed as I offered them the cheap cloisonné bracelets that had survived after Bob's and my first year of marriage in China. I shed these pieces in part so that they could begin their own grown- up jewelry box, their own collection and catalog of themselves. Sooner, much sooner than I wanted to imagine, my little twins would be piercing their ears and joining the cycles of the moon and moving slowly, inexorably toward an independence that would place me in an outer circle, like one of Saturn's rings.

They would make their own choices about lovers and clothing, where to draw the line, and what jewelry to wear. Their bodies would be their own property, and with that would come decisions about tattoos and other piercings, who to let in, who to keep out. Someday soon they themselves would choose what they ate, what vitamins they took, and whether or not they wanted to be parents. And no matter what they chose, and whether or not I agreed with it, I would love them regardless and in spite of themselves.

Tweet To ReMIND

Remind.org — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:33:21 -0400

Tweet To ReMIND is a campaign seeking $1.65 million for troops coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan, and their families, using Twitter. The goal is to get 400,000 Twitter users to tweet four times over Memorial Day weekend, donating $1.00 per tweet. The money will go directly to ReMIND.org, for local support services and resources that will assist in the troops' recovery from their physical and psychological wounds.

Rene Bardorf, Executive Director of ReMIND.org, says Memorial Day is "a great time" to do this. According to the Tweet to ReMIND site (tweettoReMIND.org), "More than 1.65 million U.S. service members have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq since 9/11. More than 35,000 service members have been physically wounded. It is estimated that more than 320,000 have sustained traumatic brain injuries and more than 300,000 have psychological wounds." She also states that in past wars, "we didn't have the great medical care we have now," and that because the current military is a volunteer force, with service members being deployed multiple times, there is more stress when troops come home. They and their families need our help.

Think about it: you'd spend more on two cups of coffee for one day, than you'd spend in one weekend helping our troops. I'd give up Starbucks for one day for that. And it's so simple. Just register for Tweet to ReMIND at TweettoReMIND.org, and pledge now.

ReMIND.org (remind.org) is a Bob Woodruff Foundation Initiative. Bob Woodruff, co-founder of ReMIND.org, sustained a traumatic brain injury in Iraq from a roadside bomb. During his recovery he got to know many injured service members and their families.

Many thanks to Porter Novelli, a New York-based marketing-based public relations firm specializing in consumer, convergence/technology, health care, and corporate affairs practices, for partnering with Twitter on this, and to Lisa Gruber there for informing me about Tweet to ReMIND. "Go To DC Mental Health Examiner":http://www.examiner.com/x-2259-DC-Mental-Health-Examiner~y2009m4d15-Tweet-To-REMIND

Bob Woodruff Foundation Awards Second $100,000 to Jericho Project for Homeless Veterans

Remind.org — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:20:35 -0400

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

ReMIND.org, A Bob Woodruff Foundation Initiative, Awards Second $100,000 to Jericho Project for At-Risk and Homeless Veterans

Comtex NEW YORK, March 31, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ---- ReMIND.org, a Bob Woodruff Foundation initiative, has awarded its second $100,000 grant to the Jericho Project for use in helping veterans from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who sustained Traumatic Brain Injury and/or Post Traumatic Stress. The Jericho Project, a nonprofit leader in ending homelessness at its roots, is building two Veterans Residences in the Bronx, New York, to deliver permanent supportive housing and comprehensive counseling services to veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

"As our veterans return from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, we must be prepared to address mental, physical and social traumas they face," said Jericho Project Executive Director Tori Lyon. "The intensity and violence there are incubators for Post Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury, which can cascade into financial dislocation, family estrangement and homelessness," she added.

Veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness roughly four times faster than veterans of the Vietnam War -- within a few years of returning versus nine to twelve years for veterans returning to the States after Vietnam.(1)

The effects of Post Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury further complicate re-entry. Of the 1.6-million troops deployed at the time of a 2008 Rand Study, 300,000 were estimated to have returned from Iraq or Afghanistan suffering from Post Traumatic Stress and 320,000 troops may have experienced a Traumatic Brain Injury.

"We need to support our veterans in recovering their physical and mental strengths, but also the social acuity that creates a quality of life," said Rene Bardorf, Executive Director of the Bob Woodruff Foundation.

In addition to funding comprehensive counseling to residents of the Veterans Initiative, Jericho will be using the funds provided by the Bob Woodruff Foundation to create a technology center that will enable veterans to supplement their in-person counseling and online resources, including career building and social networking with other veterans.

Forty percent of the units in Jericho's two Veterans Residences will be reserved for low-income veterans from the community, with priority given to veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sixty percent will be set aside for veterans who have a history of homelessness and substance abuse.

Numerous factors contribute to OIF/OEF veterans' isolation and risk of homelessness(1):

-- High and consistent intensity of violence: 86% know someone who was killed or injured; and 77% shot at enemy -- Repeated tours of duty: 34 percent have been deployed for OIF/OEF more than once -- High unemployment: 18% of veterans recently separated from service are unemployed, and of those employed, 25% earn less than $21,840 a year -- Relative youth of troops: Nearly half are under 25 years old, leaving many with a shorter professional track record and difficulty transferring military skills to the civilian work force
-- Substance and alcohol abuse to cope: in 2008, 15,653 OIF/OEF veterans were treated for substance abuse

Jericho's Veterans Initiative will be designed to meet the specific needs of those who served in the nation's armed forces. It will also draw upon Jericho's highly effective model of supportive housing and counseling services that stress recovery, employment, and graduation to independent living. The Jericho Veterans Residences will feature small studio apartments, staff offices, a community room, a computer lab, and a garden. See www.jerichoproject.org

Although veterans are disproportionately represented among homeless adults in the New York City shelter system, there are only two supportive housing projects for veterans currently in operation in New York. Some 150,000 veterans are homeless on any one night across America; and an estimated 3,500 veterans are homeless in New York City.

Bob Woodruff, co-founder of ReMIND.org, became the first American news anchor to be wounded in a war zone, when he was nearly killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Bob sustained a traumatic brain injury, and during his own healing process got to know many of our nation's injured heroes and their families.

ReMIND.org provides direct giving to support our nation's injured and their families through community-based efforts; partners with industry and government to achieve its goals; and is committed to raising awareness of the Hidden Injuries of War.

ReMIND.org, a Bob Woodruff Foundation Initiative, provides resources and support to injured service members, veterans 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. For more information, visit ReMIND.org.

(1) Swords to Plowshares, Iraq Veteran Project, July 2008

SOURCE The Jericho Project

http://www.jerichoproject.org

AARP.org Twitter Away for Injured Iraq Veterans

Remind.org — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:38:30 -0400

New technology can make folks all atwitter, but one nonprofit thinks that’s a good thing.

The Bob Woodruff Foundation, named for the ABC correspondent who was injured in 2006 by a roadside bomb in Iraq, is launching a fundraiser through the social media network Twitter.

Twitter users communicate through “tweets,” which are frequent, short messages sent to friends and family to stay connected. The free service can be used both online and through cellphones.

The foundation, through its Tweet to Remind campaign, seeks to raise $1.65 million to help military men and women get assistance through a variety of services—from adaptive housing to psychological care—once they return from war.

“We wanted to do something in a grassroots way,” says foundation executive director Rene Bardorf. “It’s a great way to reach out to the community and assist service members to reintegrate into their families and society.”

The campaign is asking supporters to pledge $1 per tweet for a total of four tweets during the Memorial Day weekend, May 22-25. People can sign up to contribute online and then use their Twitter accounts to send messages to families and friends about the needs of U.S. service members. Bardorf says the messages can highlight data and statistics about veterans or encourage others to get involved locally with veterans’ issues.

Supporters are asked to use the hashtag #tweettoremind when they make their tweets.

Bardorf’s team calculates that if 400,000 people pledge $4, the Woodruff Foundation will raise $1.6 million. Bardorf looks for the remaining $500,000 to come from people who pledge more than $4, and she hopes the 50-plus generation will lead the way.

“We’re all new to this technology, but the older demographic understands why this issue is so important. They understand how much sacrifice there is when you serve,” she says. "View Original Post":http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/reinventing/articles/twitter_away_for_injured_iraq_veterans.html

OK, TWITTER WILL DO FOR LEE WOODRUFF

Remind.org — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:37:15 -0400

LEE Woodruff shouldn't knock some thing before trying it. In February, the writer and wife of Iraq war-injured ABC anchor Bob Woodruff wrote a piece blasting Twitter in the Daily Beast. "I say let's stop the madness," Woodruff wrote of Twitter users, who update their profiles daily with musings of 140 characters or less. "I think [using Twitter] is largely about vanity," she said. "Go read an article in The New Yorker. You remember those, don't you?" Now Woodruff is eating her words. She'll embrace Twitter to help raise money for the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which supports wounded soldiers, and just announced its "Tweet to Remind" cam paign. The goal is to raise $1.6 million by Memorial Day by asking Twitter users to pledge $1 per Tweet. Lee included this dis claimer in her article: "I'm not saying I'm never, ever going to join Twitter." "View Original Post":http://www.nypost.com/seven/03252009/gossip/pagesix/ok__twitter_will_do_for_lee_woodruff_161194.htm

Donate Your Twitter Status

Remind.org — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:39:58 -0400

Do you Twitter? Twitter is a micro-blogging social-networking service that allows users to share text-based posts (or tweets) of up to 140 characters.

Starting Monday, March 16, ReMIND.org and Porter Novelli ask Twitter users to register at TweetToReMIND.org.

The Tweet to ReMIND event will take place over Memorial Day weekend (Friday, May 22, to Monday, May 25). Participants will be asked to donate one dollar per tweet. Tweet to ReMIND’s goal is to register 400,000 twitterers by Memorial Day, and to raise $1.65 million during the weekend event, which represents the 1.65 million service members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11. Each Twitterer must tweet four times in order to meet our goal.

More than 35,000 service members have been physically wounded and it is estimated that more than 320,000 have sustained traumatic brain injuries and more than 300,000 have psychological wounds. Tweet to ReMIND empowers Twitter users to spread this message and raise money to give injured service members, veterans and their families the local support and resources they deserve as they heal and reintegrate into their communities.

Individuals, groups or companies can sponsor and donate designated hours of their Twitter updates to ReMIND.org.

The Tweet to ReMIND campaign call to action was announced March 16 at SXSW Interactive’s Social Media for Social Change panel discussion, sponsored by Porter Novelli at Stubb’s BBQ in Austin, Texas. TWITTERERS: Please use hashtag #TweetToRemind when you tweet for Tweet to ReMIND.

ReMIND.org, a Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) initiative, provides resources and support for returning U.S. service members injured while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, as they reintegrate into their local communities.

"View Original Post":http://moaablogs.org/message/2009/03/donate-your-twitter-status/

ReMIND.org Challenges Twitter Community: Tweet to Raise Money and Awareness for injured service members, veterans and their families

Remind.org — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:34:46 -0400

ReMIND.org Partners With Porter Novelli for Tweet to ReMIND, Benefiting U.S. Service Members Injured in Afghanistan and Iraq

New York, March 16, 2009 -- ReMIND.org announced today the launch of Tweet to ReMIND, a campaign that empowers Twitter users to spread awareness and raise funds to recognize and support injured U.S. service members as they return to their communities. Tweet to ReMIND has been developed with the pro bono partnership of global public relations agency Porter Novelli. ReMIND.org, a Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) initiative, provides critical resources and support for our nation’s injured heroes and their families. Today’s announcement was made at the Social Media for Social Change panel discussion at the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas.

“We are eager to harness the information-sharing power of Twitter to tap into a massive community of plugged-in, socially aware Americans on behalf of our injured service members and their families,” said Brad McCormick, executive vice president of Digital for Porter Novelli. “Tweet to ReMIND will provide unprecedented reach for ReMIND.org’s message: ‘Support Our Troops’ is no longer a slogan. It’s an action.’ In addition to jump-starting awareness, Tweet to ReMIND gives Twitter users a chance to take action by disseminating the message themselves and by donating.”

Starting today, ReMIND.org and Porter Novelli ask Twitter users to register at TweetToReMIND.org. The Tweet to ReMIND online event will take place over Memorial Day weekend (Friday, May 22, to Monday, May 25). Participants will be asked to donate one dollar per tweet, via PayPal or electronic check. Money raised will be spent on local resources to help heal and reintegrate injured service members into their communities. Tweet to ReMIND’s goal is to register 400,000 tweeters by Memorial Day, and to raise $1.65 million during the weekend event, which represents the 1.65 million service members deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq since 9/11. Each Twitter must tweet four times in order to meet our goal.

“Being able to work with Porter Novelli on this innovative, cutting edge campaign allows us to expand our reach and continue to provide resources and support for injured service members and their families,” said Lee Woodruff, co-founder of the Bob Woodruff Foundation. “As we continue to grow, we are happy to have Porter Novelli promote this cause alongside us.”

“Porter Novelli proudly supports ReMIND.org by offering our services pro bono, in support of BWF co-founder Lee Woodruff, a longtime agency colleague,” said Marian Salzman, chief marketing officer of Porter Novelli.

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.":http://porternovelli.com

Their New Normal: The Woodruff Family’s Recovery From Traumatic Brain Injury

Remind.org — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:48:50 -0400

From EP Global Communications Their New Normal: The Woodruff Family’s Recovery From Traumatic Brain Injury

Countless families across the country recognize Bob Woodruff as one of the faces of ABC News. We know him from his in-depth reporting, his position as the replacement for the late Peter Jennings as co-anchor of World News Tonight, and, unfortunately, from his near-death experience when his tank was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) while he was on assignment covering the war in Iraq. Lee Woodruff knows Bob as her husband of 20 years, the father of her four children, and her partner in life. In the hours and days following the attack on Bob, his cameraman, and the military personnel who were assigned as their escorts, America watched as news came in of his serious condition (he suffered a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and his chances of recovering. Lee immediately rushed to his side, determined to do anything she could to get him healthy and bring him home to his family. For Lee, the entire journey—from panic when the call came in that he was injured to caregiving during the long recovery process—taught her many things about the power of hope, the strength of the human spirit, and her own ability to overcome fear and remain strong for her family. For both Bob and Lee, the experience also gave them a profound appreciation of the courage and selflessness of the men and women of the U.S. military, whom they credit for saving Bob’s life.

It was January 29, 2006, and Bob was reporting on U.S. and Iraqi security forces when a roadside bomb struck his vehicle near Taji, Iraq. At the time of the attack, he was embedded with the U.S. 4th Infantry Division, traveling in an Iraqi MT-LB. Woodruff and his cameraman, Doug Vogt, were standing with their heads above a hatch, apparently filming a stand-up. Both men were wearing body armor and protective helmets at the time. Woodruff sustained serious shrapnel wounds and a massive head injury and underwent surgery performed by a joint Army and Air Force neurosurgical team at the U.S. Air Force hospital south of Balad, located in Camp Anaconda. A portion of his skull was removed to reduce the damage from brain swelling, and he was evacuated to the United States Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany. He was kept in a medically induced coma to assist his recovery.

Lee was on vacation at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL with their four children when ABC News president, David Westin, called her with the news that Bob had been injured. Naturally, not but in serious condition due to an IED attack on his unit, she was terrified. After the initial shock began to subside, Lee—a public relations executive and freelance writer—searched within herself for strength and hope and then embraced her role as the leader and caregiver of her family. She called Bob’s family, her own parents, and then told Westin to release the news to the public and arrange for her to get to Bob’s side. The hardest task came next—she needed to tell her four children, whose ages at the time ranged from 5 to 15, that their father had been seriously injured. She was careful in her approach of delivering the news to them. “I think initially, during the initial terror—before we knew where it was going—one of the things I found the most helpful was to determine that balance between insulating my kids from a lot of the facts and the gory details and the what ifs and the desire to never lie to them,” Lee remembers. “My daughter would come to me and say, ‘Is Daddy going to be the same? Will he be the same person?’ And I would think, You know, I don’t know the answer to that, and if I told her, I’d be lying to her—and I never want to lie to her because I always want her to believe me. I always want to be her source for information. So what I would say to her was, ‘I believe in my heart that your dad is going to get better, and he’s going to be as back to himself as he can possibly be.’ And that was enough for all of them.”

As information began to come in about the attack, Lee learned that, after the bombing, helicopter medics were ordered to turn around because of a complex gunfight that was taking place around the tank that Bob was in. The military personnel sent to the rescue chose to ignore the order, however, land their helicopter, and get Bob the medical attention that he would have died without. The servicemembers told Lee they were just doing their job—her immediate thought was a hope that she was raising her children with the kind of “stuff” that those men were made of.

Bob’s initial prognosis upon his evacuation was that he was not expected to live. Lee credits the doctors and nurses, who took mortar fire while operating on him, for bringing him back. She admits that her first instinct when she got the news was to get her husband back to the U.S. as soon as possible so that he could get the proper care, but she later realized that he was in the best place he could have been where, as she explains, “They just acted, when every second counted.” She now understands that U.S. military physicians are some of the best in the world at treating traumatic brain injuries, because they have seen so many of them over the course of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lee first saw Bob at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and it was a waiting game in terms of when he would recover and how affected he would be from the brain injury. After leaving Germany, Woodruff was treated for weeks at Bethesda Naval Hospital (also known as the National Naval Medical Center) in Bethesda, MD. Once he came out of his coma, it was his speech and language that were most affected. Lee was told that with an injury like Bob’s it was as if a bomb had gone off in the filing cabinet in his brain that keeps all of his words and memories and now he had to pick them all up and reorganize them. And for Lee, that was the most challenging aspect of dealing with his recovery. “This was Bob. This was the person that I married because of his brain and now here was his brain that was so completely scrambled, and moreover, there was no real certainty on where it would end up.” She didn’t know how functional Bob would be, how much he would improve, or if he would ever be able to hold any real job again. She quickly discovered that patience was key. “That was absolutely the hardest thing, being able to let go and say, ‘I have no control over this so I now need to stay indefinitely positive, and I need to do it for the kids…and for my own psyche.’”

Lee learned that the most valuable tool in helping her family through the experience of dealing with Bob’s injury and his recovery was to always keep them all in the realm of hope and, as he began to recover, to focus on the things that he could do instead of those that he couldn’t do. She worked to maintain an open line of communication with her children and found that—as simple and as basic as it was—it was all they needed.

In her initial conversations with the doctors who were treating Bob in Germany, both prior to her arriving there and during her first days at his side, Lee grew frustrated with their descriptions of his condition. “Sometimes I worry about the caregivers when doctors give such dire pronouncements up front because if an outcome is going to be awful—like the cancer is terminal or Dad’s never going to walk again or talk again—our brains will begin to allow that information in over time,” she explains. “We will begin to understand it. We don’t need it to be frontloaded—we don’t need to be hit over the head with a club. We need to stay strong and in a realm of hope to care for our loved one. I think kids are like that, too. If this is going to be Dad’s new reality, then they will begin to understand that and adjust their world or their expectations to circle around that gradually.”

As a result of his brain injury, Bob experienced aphasia—the loss of the ability to produce and/or comprehend language, especially when fatigued. (The condition has continued to improve and now is barely recognizable.) Lee remembers, “It was so interesting to see my kids deal with that, to just supply the word if he hesitated for one second. To them, it became their ‘new normal,’ which is a brain injury term that I hated for so long, but there really isn’t a better word for life after an injury or illness. And kids understand ‘new normal.’ I think we need to give them a lot more credit than they sometimes get for being able to assimilate and move forward.”

For Lee, her processing of the experience was complicated and trying. She found herself in a position not foreign to the spouses and loved ones of those in the military who put themselves in dangerous situations in the name of their jobs…angry. “I just thought, my God, you’ve got four kids, you’ve been there eight times before, you and your producers had agreed that you already had the story in the can. Why were you going the extra mile here? Why are you such a Boy Scout? All of those thoughts were in my head, and I’m not sure how I stopped the film loop on that one ultimately. … I think you sort of just burn yourself out with all these different emotions.”

From fear, to anger, to determination, Lee always remained hopeful throughout Bob’s path to recovery and from it all emerged deeply grateful to the U.S. military. Together with Bob, they decided to create the Bob Woodruff Family Foundation to become a voice that could be heard in civilian and military cultures, across political lines and throughout the nation, calling for tangible support to assist injured servicemembers and their families. “I know that we felt so lucky, and we saw in the hospital so many families that didn’t have the spotlight on them like we did, who didn’t have the resources of an ABC News behind them,” Lee remembers. “I think we felt so grateful at Bob’s outcome, and we felt like we had to do something.” Through the nonprofit foundation, the Woodruffs, Bob’s brothers included, use their voices to shine light on the families who need help and provide critical resources and support, especially to those affected by the signature hidden injuries of war: traumatic brain injury and combat stress (post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To date, they have given over $1 million in individual and charitable grants through the foundation. “We feel that we can continue—through speaking and writing and all the things that I do and Bob does—to keep the focus on these vets,” Lee says. They try to cover the gamut of what military families of those injured need, from financial support to access to rehab, and that includes an awareness of the caregiver, evidenced by their recent funding of an organization at Walter Reed Army Medical Center that gives spa and pedicure treatments to the caregiver. “You can say, well how does that help somebody recover from a brain injury?” says Lee. “But I don’t even have to tell you how. It’s pretty obvious.”

Now, three years since the IED that almost took his life in Iraq, Bob is back on ABC News (he returned in February 2007), and Lee is set to release her second book, Perfectly Imperfect: A Life in Progress (her first, In an Instant: A Family’s Journey of Love and Healing, was co-authored with Bob and became a #1 New York Times bestseller). At ABC, Bob is reporting for World News, Good Morning America, and Nightline with the unit, Bob Woodruff Reports. His first on-air report after his injury, “To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Reports,” was an hour-long, primetime documentary that chronicled his TBI, his painstaking recovery, and the plight of thousands of servicemembers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with similar injuries. Woodruff continues to cover TBI for all ABC News broadcasts and platforms and was honored with a Peabody Award in 2008 for his reporting on the subject. And he is working his way back to live anchoring. “He would say that he’s not as fluid, speech- wise, as he would have been before,” explains Lee. “Before he could sit and look at five pages and memorize them and stand up and spew it out. He can no longer do that; he has to come up with other tricks to keep the facts in his head. But he has found, as so many with brain injuries do, great compensatory strategies for working around those issues. So it’s pretty remarkable.”

That day in Iraq immediately changed the lives of Bob, Lee, and their four children but it has without a doubt made them stronger and forever affected the way they view the men and women of the military and the resilience of all families to overcome great challenges. Lee found that taking things day by day, being as patient as she could be in the face of uncertainty, and never losing hope allowed her to lead her family through their hard times. “I know it sounds like a Hallmark card, but I don’t think anybody should ever be without hope,” says Lee. “I think hope is really the fuel that keeps the patient going, the caregiver going, the whole family going. It’s like gasoline in the engine; no one should ever be afraid to hope.”

For more about The Bob Woodruff Family Foundation, visit remind.org. Lee Woodruff’s new book, Perfectly Imperfect: A Life in Progress, will be released April 21, 2009 from Random House and Bob Woodruff can be seen back on ABC News and as the anchor of Focus Earth, a weekly eco-newscast for Planet Green, Discovery Communications’ 24/7 eco-lifestyle network.

René Bardorf and Bob Jeffrey discuss ReMind.org on Fox Business

Remind.org — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:20:35 -0400

To view the clip, click here

TV Guide presents :: Stand Up For Heroes

Remind.org — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:20:35 -0400

To view the coverage, click here

'Army Wives' Grace Red Carpet At Walter Reed

Remind.org — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:20:35 -0400

by Meghan Vittrup, American Forces Press Service 07/04/2008

WASHINGTON, July 2, 2008 – The cast of the Lifetime cable network drama "Army Wives" graced the red carpet at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here yesterday to help kick off the July Fourth week and salute servicemembers' often-forgotten spouses.

"We wanted to hold a screening at Walter Reed because we feel so strongly about honoring the strength and sacrifice of the real military families who inspire our show 'Army Wives' and our nation," Maria Grasso, senior vice president of series for Lifetime Networks, said in a news release.

The United Service Organizations, the Army and other organizations organized the red-carpet event, where cast members Sally Pressman and Brigid Brannagh, and Tanya Biank -- author of "Army Wives: The Unwritten Code of Military Marriage," the book upon which the series is based -- joined dozens of real military spouses in a tribute to their everyday roles in military life.

"I'm here because it means a ton," said Brannagh, who plays Pamela Moran in the series.

"It just means a lot to be here," she said. "All the soldiers, and the Army families and military families, what they do on our behalf is just so unbelievable." She added that it's an honor to be able to bring more attention to military spouses.

Also strolling across the red carpet were Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. and his wife. Although the general confessed he hasn't seen the show, his wife, Sheila, said she hasn't missed an episode.

"Right prior to its debut, I traveled around talking to Army families," Mrs. Casey said. "They were peppering me with questions about this, because there's great concern about how we would be depicted. And so I did start to watch from the beginning, because I knew I was going to be asked questions."

Military spouses and families had the opportunity to have their pictures taken with the stars and to talk with them and share their stories.

"I don't go through a day without an Army wife coming up to me and really opening up and telling me a story -- like an intimate story -- about their life, about their day-to-day," said Pressman, who plays Roxy LeBlanc on the show. "And I'm speechless and so unbelievably honored and so grateful."

Mitja Ng-Baumhackl, husband of a Navy officer, also attended the red carpet event. "It's actually been a real adventure," Ng-Baumhackl said of being a military spouse. "And there certainly have been a lot of challenges. The 'Army Wives' show actually is so great because it's very authentic at raising those challenges."

Ng-Baumhackl said some of his challenges as a husband have been a little different from those a wife faces. But, he added that he still faces the same challenges that military wives have faced for years, such as finding steady employment and packing up and moving across the country, all the while making sure the kids have an easy transition as well.

After the red carpet arrivals had concluded, the crowd joined Deborah Spera, "Army Wives" executive producer, and Lee Woodruff, wife of ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, who was injured in Iraq , for a panel discussion. The Woodruffs are co-authors of a book titled "In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing."

Lee Woodruff described her experience as an "army wife." Although she is not the spouse of a servicemember, she said, she has experienced some of the same things military spouses experience, especially after her husband was seriously injured by a roadside bomb while he was embedded with troops in Iraq .

"I want to honor all of you," she said to the military spouses in the audience. "You are my heroes, all of you. I didn't know a lot about the military before Bob got injured, but I do know some of what you go through."

Woodruff spoke about her experience when her husband was in Iraq , hoping she would not get the dreaded phone call learning of an attack that either injured or killed her husband. Indeed, on June 29, 2006, a roadside bomb nearly took his life.

Bob Woodruff spent weeks in the hospital suffering from traumatic brain injuries. During his recovery, the Woodruff family created the Bob Woodruff Family Foundation. The foundation helps ensure that servicemembers with combat-related injuries receive quality long-term treatment.

Lifetime also launched a postcard drive during last night's event. Network officials are encouraging fans to write and send postcards showing their support not only for servicemembers, but also for the families that allow their husbands, wives and children to serve for their country.

Operation Homefront, a nonprofit group that tries to bring a better quality of life to military families, will distribute the postcards to military families. Operation Homefront is a supporter of the Defense Department's America Supports you program. America Supports You connects citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad.

An advance screening of "The Hero Returns" -- the "Army Wives" episode that will air July 6 at 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Lifetime -- capped off the evening at Walter Reed.

"I really think what all the Army wives go through -- and military wives in general -- is so much bigger, so much more than what anyone goes through in a marriage anyway," Brannagh said. "But I would still say that the same skill set that works in a marriage works with the Army and works with your husband -- or your wife."

Biographies: Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr.

Related Sites: Operation Homefront Bob Woodruff Family Foundation United Service Organizations America Supports You

2008 New York City Mess Night and Wounded Warrior Tribute

Remind.org — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:20:35 -0400

"The New York City Marine Corps Council's New York City Mess Night will honor America's wounded warriors. All benefit proceeds will be given to the Bob Woodruff Family Fund (bobwoodrufffamilyfund.org)" For_Immediate_Release:

United States of America (Press Release) June 3, 2008 -- NYC MARINE CORPS COUNCIL

What: Benefit Gourmet Dinner to Celebrate 2008 NYC Mess Night Bob Woodruff is Civilian Guest of Honor When: Monday, June 30. Starts 6:00 pm until 11:00 pm Where: The New York Athletic Club (9th Floor), 180 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019 Tickets: $350 per person

Available: NYCMessNight@nycmcc.org Alexis Maxwell at 347-387-0019

Attire: Black Tie

Charity: All donations given to the Bob Woodruff Family Fund The New York City Marine Corps Council's New York City Mess Night will honor America's wounded warriors. All benefit proceeds will be given to the Bob Woodruff Family Fund (www.bobwoodrufffamilyfund.org), which works to help our U.S. forces affected by Traumatic Brain Injury, a significant casualty issue on the Iraqi battlefield today.

About "Mess Night" - "Mess Night" is a venerable Marine Corps tradition dating from the 1500's that few civilians experience. The event encompasses a cocktail hour, an opulent feast, good cheer and a range of fines for violating guidelines of the mess, which all guests are informed of at the onset. (Violations include foul language, chewing gum, rapping glassware for attention, rearranging table settings and discussing politics, shop, money or religion. Fines begin at $1 and escalate to $30 for "NYC elite" and civilians. All penalties will be donated to The Bob Woodruff Family Fund.)

All guests will receive a copy of "New York City Mess Night: An Introduction and Essential Companion for Pleasantly Surviving a Marine Corps Mess Night. Copies available on request.

Guests of Honor (all will speak)

JOE LISI President of the Mess, Marine, Actor, NYC Native and Retired NYPD Precinct Captain

LIEUTENANT GENERAL RONALD S. COLEMAN, USMC Senior Military Guest of Honor, Deputy Commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs

BOB WOODRUFF Civilian Guest of Honor, Author of the best-seller In An Instant, Founder of The Bob Woodruff Family Foundation and Career National Television News Anchor and Correspondent

JWT to Volunteer Services for Bob Woodruff Family Foundation

Remind.org — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:20:35 -0400

NEW YORK, March 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- JWT, the largest advertising agency in the U.S. and the fourth largest in the world, announced today that it will volunteer its broad marketing expertise to support the Bob Woodruff Family Foundation (BWFF), a nonprofit organization that raises awareness of the devastation caused by the "hidden injuries of war", traumatic brain injury (TBI) and combat stress.

Bob Woodruff, an ABC News anchor, was nearly killed in a roadside bomb attack while reporting from Iraq in January 2006. The Woodruff Family launched BWFF to help service members, veterans and their families as they navigate their road to recovery and reintegration back into their local communities.

"JWT has a long history of working with the U.S. Marine Corps, and we're honored to rally behind the BWFF," says JWT chairman and CEO Bob Jeffrey. "This is a chance to use our resources for the greater good and to give back to those brave men and women who sacrifice everything in the line of duty."

JWT has handled the U.S. Marine Corps account since 1946; founder James Walter Thompson was a Marine Corps veteran.

"No one disagrees that we should support our troops, irrespective of one's stance on the war," says Rob Quish, CEO of JWT Specialized Communications. "Bob and Lee's foundation gives people a direct way to make a huge impact on the lives of those facing real challenges as they come home. We'll help to spread knowledge about these 'invisible' injuries and ask for big donations and big help in assisting these injured warriors as they rehabilitate and reintegrate into society."

JWT's promotional efforts will be led by the New York headquarters and the Atlanta office, which handles the U.S. Marine Corps account.

"Working with JWT allows us to expand our reach and spread our message about the injuries sustained by our service members, and the trauma that so many families with loved ones returning from Iraq are enduring," notes Dave Woodruff, Chairman of the Bob Woodruff Family Foundation and Bobs' brother. "As we continue to expand our efforts, we are happy to have JWT further promoting this cause."

Adds Lee Woodruff, "We are excited about having the power of JWT behind our public awareness campaign. The agency will be instrumental in helping us raise awareness of TBI and combat stress, which affect so many of our brave service members."

About the Bob Woodruff Foundation

The Bob Woodruff Family Foundation assists service members injured while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Special emphasis is placed on the "hidden signature injuries" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: traumatic brain injury (TBI) and combat stress injuries including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Foundation works with private industry and government to develop public awareness and promote excellence in research, education, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, support and resources for the injured and their families as they reintegrate to duty or civilian life.

About JWT

JWT ranks as the largest advertising agency brand in the United States and the fourth-largest full-service network in the world. Its parent company is WPP . JWT's heritage of brand-building excellence extends back to 1864, making us the world's oldest advertising agency brand. In 1939, JWT pioneered the first national consumer research panel. In 1988, we created the first research study of consumer lifestyles, "Life Stages." We believe in being anthropologists first, advertising people second.

CONTACT: Alyson Valpone, Department of Communications, JWT, +1-212-210-7825

Web site: http://www.jwt.com/