RIESTER

Tim Riester

Tim Riester

Join me in supporting a friend’s orphanage in Haiti.

A young Haitian photographed at the Hope Center for Orphaned Girls in 2009. Even before the devastating earthquake Haiti already had a high number of orphans.

A young Haitian photographed at the Hope Center for Orphaned Girls in 2009. Even before the devastating earthquake Haiti already had a high number of orphans.

While too many people are suffering from the earthquake in Haiti, children are among those who need our help most.  In fact, even before the January 12 quake, Haiti already had 200,000 orphaned children – the legacy of floods, hurricanes, poverty, disease and other disasters.

Toby Munson Banks is a childhood friend of mine. We went to high school together and played in the same rock and roll band.  With her husband Tim Banks, Toby runs the Hope Center for Orphaned Girls in Haiti. She has lived there for many years doing this important work.  The orphanage suffered severe damage during the earthquake. It is only four miles from the epicenter.

The RIESTER Foundation is raising money for the Hope Center to help Toby and Tim Banks care for orphans in Haiti during what will be many difficult months and years ahead.

Please make a donation today for young Haitians without parents. Until March 1st, all donations received through the RIESTER Foundation PayPal page will be directed to the Hope Center orphanage in Haiti. Anything from $10 to $1,000 or more will go a long way toward helping children who live in a situation with extremely limited resources.

The RIESTER Foundation is matching all contributions dollar for dollar up to $2,500.

These are tough times in the United States, but even during times like this we are a nation of wealth and resources that are unimaginable to the people of Haiti. Please join me in doing what you can for a group of children with no parents and no other way to help themselves.

Please click on donate below to make a donation from our foundation PayPal page:

donate_sm

Or send a check to:

RIESTER Foundation–Haiti Fund
802 North 3rd Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85003

The Hope Center for Orphaned Girls sustained major damage during the earthquake. The building didn't collapse but as you can see from this interior shot it suffered major damage. Currently the building is not being used out of concerns for its structural safety.

The Hope Center for Orphaned Girls sustained major damage during the earthquake. The building didn't collapse but, as you can see from this interior shot, it suffered major damage. Currently the building is not being used out of concerns for its structural safety.

We will be posting additional information. To read all posts from RIESTER regarding Haiti and the Hope Center go to http://www.riester.com/haiti/

Tim Riester

Conservationist Jeff Kutz of PRETOMA reports good news from Costa Rica.

Corozaliton Beach, Costa Rica.

Corozalito Beach, Costa Rica.

Below is a report I received by email from researchers funded by the RIESTER Foundation to study the nesting habits of sea turtles at Corazalito in Costa Rica.  Corazalito is a rare nesting site where thousands of sea turtles lay their eggs.  For the past several years, the location was attacked daily by poachers who would steal the eggs and sell them.  RIESTER Foundation funding has provided security to protect the beach from poachers, and dedicated researchers from universities around the world to document activity at the site and tag the visiting turtles.

Subject: Good news from Corazalito!

Great news!  Last Sunday night (the 20th) we observed and tagged a rare Pacific green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nesting at our project in Corozalito, which has been extended until January 31st.   She was the only turtle on the beach this night, and our team followed her meter wide track to discover where she was preparing her egg chamber (over 60cm deep!).

After depositing 87 eggs, researchers applied tag numbers NX786 and NX787 to the fore-flippers of this previously unobserved female for future identification.  This specific green sea turtle had a carapace (upper shell) 86.2cm long [2.8ft] and 76.5cm wide [2.5ft], and its relocated nest represents another piece of hope for the future of green turtles in Costa Rica.  We hope to see her return again this year!

Saludos,

Jeff Kutz
Co-Director and Technical Coordinator of Nesting Beaches
PRETOMA

Olive ridley turtles in the waters off of Corozalito Beach.

Olive ridley turtles in the waters off of Corozalito Beach.

Tim Riester

RIESTER’s Michael Murphy bikes to see the Phoenix Suns. It’s all about clean air.

Watch the video below to see a news story with the Phoenix Suns featuring RIESTER’s Executive Media Director Michael Murphy who rides his bike to work in an effort to lower vehicle emissions in Phoenix. The Suns instituted a bicycle valet for its games and “Murph” was the first to use it. This is a very cute story and features RIESTER brand activism well!

Murphy is setting an example for lower fuel use and cleaner air in Maricopa County. Visit http://www.cleanairmakemore.com/ for more information on ways you can follow Murph’s example and make our air cleaner. Michael Murphy works on the clean air campaign and it’s affected the personal choices he makes for getting around town. Michael has the orange shirt with horizontal stripes:

Tim Riester

Greenbuild is in Phoenix. Tom Ortega is leading the way.

Greenbuild, the largest conference in the world dedicated to promoting sustainable construction and design, is in Phoenix this week. My business partner and RIESTER’s Executive Creative Director, Tom Ortega, was featured on ABC News last night discussing sustainable building design. Ortega used his soon to be built home as an example of a way to live that lightens his family’s footprint.

Sustainability communications is an area of expertise for RIESTER and is especially relevant this week with Greenbuild Conference in Phoenix. Ortega is not only leading by example as he prepares to break ground on his family’s home, he is also a leader in creating campaigns that effectively communicate why it is important and necessary to live lives with sustainability in mind. His new home will be powered with solar electricity, he will be harvesting rainwater on his property and the home will be built with sustainable materials.

Sustainability is more than a buzz word. We all must adopt more sustainable lifestyles if we hope to pass on a healthy and prosperous world to our children and grandchildren.

Tim Riester

Mirja Riester discusses the fall of the Berlin Wall on television.

My wife, business partner and RIESTER’s Executive Director Mirja Riester appeared on Fox 10 in Phoenix discussing the fall of the Berlin Wall:

Don’t miss Mirja’s post on our web site: http://tinyurl.com/MirjasBerlinPost

Tim Riester

RIESTER’s Mike Korologos inducted into the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame.

Last month my wife Mirja and I took our family to the Alf Engen Ski Museum, home of the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame. It is with great pride for us to have a legend from the ski world on our staff: Mike Korologos. Mike works out of our Salt Lake City office and is a 2009 inductee into the hall of fame. His fellow inductees include Dick Bass, the developer of Snowbird; the late Sigi Engl who helped put Sun Valley on the map as a destination after serving in the 10th Mountain Division in Europe during World War II; and skiing champion Alan Engen who is also known as a long time Director of Skiing at Alta.

This video, featuring Mike, was used during the induction ceremony on September 24, 2009, when Mike Korologos earned his well-deserved recognition as a legend in the world of skiing:

The full video is too long for YouTube at 13 minutes in length so we split it into two parts. Note that the second part includes the clip above.

View part one of the 2009 induction video featuring Dick Bass and Alan Engen at http://tinyurl.com/BassEngen

View part two of the 2009 induction video featuring  Sigi Engl and Mike Korologos at http://tinyurl.com/EnglKorologos

Congratulations Mike and all of your fellow inductees.

On your next trip to Park City, don’t miss the Alf Engen Ski Museum at the Utah Olympic Park. It’s well worth your time.

Tim Riester

Idahoan Foods defies the recession by applying Brand Activism.

RIESTER congratulates its client, Idahoan Foods, for taking a bold, strategic path during the past 12 months. While many companies are struggling due to the recession, we are proud to say that many of our clients, including Idahoan Foods, are doing just the opposite. By capitalizing on a value-mindset, Idahoan has been able to grow its share and establish new brand loyalties across a broad demographic. Now they have a whole new story to tell and both consumers and retailers are more than happy to listen.

Over the past year, sales of Idahoan Foods Flavored Mashed Potatoes have grown over 17%. This was accomplished with a strategy that spoke directly to busy families who still wanted to come home at the end of the day to a good, home-cooked meal.

Kudos to Idahoan. Rather than pull back in the midst of a recession, they used it to their advantage and positioned their product perfectly.

Pass the potatoes America.

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