In our last update, this past December, Tim Riester and Jeff Kutz discussed the ongoing work of the RIESTER Foundation in Costa Rica to protect sea turtles from poachers.

In some regards the situation remains the same. Already endangered as a result of overfishing, the black market trade in turtle eggs could easily further endanger this sea life in Central America where poaching rates on unprotected beaches are very harmful.   The Olive Ridley turtle is the most prevalent species of turtle where we are working.

The Olive Ridley turtle has an average life span of 50 years and will grow to 100 pounds.  These turtles have lived on Earth for millions of years and are well worth protecting.

Like the canary in the coal mine, the turtles represent the overall health of the ecosystems in which we all live.

What is most exciting this year is the conservation outreach to children in the nearby town of Corozolito–where I saw turtle eggs for sale in a local bar–changing attitudes for future generations.

Conservation work takes commitment and optimism.  It’s rewarding to see progress, especially now.

Gary Kaasa
President
RIESTER Foundation

Since that time, human populations have continued to expand and the fragile consensus regarding environmental policy broke down. Humans need wild places, not just as places to visit, but as places they can go even in their imagination. Non-human species are going extinct at unprecedented rates. One example, among many, is the dramatic decline in wild tiger populations.
Biodiversity is more than an abstract concept and it’s more than protecting some of our planet’s most noble and emblematic species like tigers and eagles.  Consider this: If all insects were to die, humans would likely not survive more than a few months.  Visit this website to learn more about the vital functions that creepy, crawly insects perform to make life on Earth possible. All life is interconnected—something that is too easy to forget.

Biodiversity is important for our economy and maintaining the diversity of the gene pool. The Convention on Biological Diversity put it in perspective:  “At least 40 percent of the world’s economy and 80 percent of the needs of the poor are derived from biological resources. The richer the diversity of life, the greater the opportunity for medical discoveries, economic development, and adaptive responses to such new challenges as climate change.”

If we continue to use more and more resources without thinking of the consequences to the planet, we will be condemning our children and their children to live lives that lack the material prosperity of today. Our choices will also affect the health of those who follow.

Our goal is to leave a healthy planet to our children, and their children.  That is why the RIESTER Foundation works to preserve and protect the environment through habitat preservation and restoration.

Coho salmon

A new project the RIESTER Foundation is supporting is the Salmon Protection and Watershed Network or SPAWN.  SPAWN is a California-based organization that works to protect and restore endangered coho salmon and steelhead trout and the habitat on which they depend.

SPAWN uses a community-based approach to habitat restoration that is in alignment with who we are at RIESTER: Brand Activists for our client’s products and causes.

I encourage you to read more about SPAWN. SPAWN is doing some of the hands on work that is so important for protecting diverse forms of life.

Thank you for helping us make Earth Day every day!

Sincerely,

Tim Riester

Excerpt from an email sent by Toby Banks from Haiti:

Our facilities in Haiti sustained considerable property damage in the devastating earthquake on Jan. 12. None of the staff or orphans in our care were injured but one house was destroyed and the orphanage needs extensive repairs. Our organization has served the people of Haiti for more than 30 years; we were here before the earthquake and we will be here long after the various large crisis organizations are gone.

We have been blessed by so many people through prayer, encouragement and financial support during this crisis. We have also been blessed by a large construction firm in Ohio who will come alongside us with engineering expertise and construction supervision in building a new orphanage facility that will be stronger and meet the evolving needs of the girls in our care. Repairs on the existing orphanage building have started and once completed, the girls will return there temporarily until the new facility is finished.

We have already begun the process of long-term community relief to assist with the needs of our Croix des Bouquets neighbors. We are meeting immediate needs for food, medical care and temporary housing. Our plans for rebuilding focus on encouraging neighbors to help one another and providing economic stimulus to the area by paying a stipend for work completed.

Pa Bliye Ayiti (Don’t forget Haiti).

>>>>>>>>End dispatch from Haiti<<<<<<<<<

We would like to thank Brad DiIorio of Salt Lick Publishing for donating space in Q Salt Lake to run the following ad:

Roy is in his early twenties. He’s tall, clean cut and never seems to be in a bad mood—though if you don’t know him well he can be quiet and shy. Once you get to know him, you see his wicked and quirky sense of humor.

In the summers of 2004 and 2005, Roy joined a youth group and volunteered his time by traveling to Haiti. He spent two weeks there each summer, and he says that his time in Haiti gave him a new perspective on the world.

Never had he seen or imagined poverty like he saw in Haiti. His trips there revolved around three orphanages. One of these orphanages is called Wings of Hope—they take in disabled children and children with special needs.

Poverty, poor health, the dangers of childbirth and disease have long conspired in Haiti to leave hundreds of thousands of children without parents. Some parents simply can’t care for their children in the poverty-stricken nation. The children at Wings of Hope with their special needs had found a refuge in a country with few resources to care for them. These are the people Roy was there to help by doing service projects.

The youth group he traveled with took the maximum number of bags they were allowed to carry–loaded with basic supplies including toilet paper. It was difficult to ship things to Haiti because packages were regularly ransacked, misdirected or simply stolen.

In Haiti Roy saw open sewers for the first time—ditches on the roadsides with raw human wastes exposed to the open air. He saw a lot of other things too. Roy referred us to this report to read more about some of the problems in Haiti: “Paradise Lost: Haiti Without Trees.”

Roy says his time there was “eye opening.  It changed my life and how I think about things.” When he came home, things that used to bother him, or that might upset his friends, didn’t seem as important anymore. After observing extreme and widespread poverty first-hand, the world just felt different. It all made “me happy to have what I have,” he says. “We have so much here, and they have so little.” Through reaching out to others, Roy felt he had made a difference. He was inspired by the work of the orphanages in Haiti where he was helping. “Never underestimate your ability to make a difference, small acts of kindness make the world a better place.”

Pam Doan, one of Roy’s colleagues at RIESTER, describes him as a young man with an old soul. He’s a great guy and his perspective on Haiti has given all of us at RIESTER insight into that stricken nation.

The RIESTER Foundation is raising money for an orphanage in Haiti that was badly damaged during the quake.

Some of the girls from the Hope Center for Orphaned Girls--the orphanage the RIESTER Foundation is raising money for. Their conditions are rough, their home from before the quake is unusable. Never lose faith in the ability to make a difference in the lives of others. Photographed this week in Haiti.

One of the girls at Hope photographed in December of 2009, before the earthquake.

The mission of the RIESTER Foundation is to preserve, conserve and protect our planet. We are active both locally and internationally with projects in Arizona, California, Guatemala, and Costa Rica.

Due to the extreme situation in Haiti after the January 12 earthquake, we made a quick decision to do our part to help in Haiti where the human suffering is hard to comprehend. Toby Banks, a very good friend of Tim Riester’s, runs an orphanage in Haiti: The Hope Center for Orphaned Girls. The RIESTER Foundation is working to raise money to support this orphanage at this time of great need.

Our foundation has no paid staff. Because we are matching donations this means that 200% of what you donate will go directly to support the orphanage in Haiti. Your donation of $10, $20, $100 or more will have twice the impact.

As I watch the news coverage I realize how fragile life can be and that we should all be willing to step up to help the less fortunate.  The girls at the Hope orphanage have no shelter as a result of the earthquake and our donations will make an immediate difference in their lives. Toby Banks and her husband Tim are trying to find a way to evacuate the girls temporarily, but their home is in Haiti and funds are needed to help them rebuild.

Please send a check to:

RIESTER Foundation
802 North 3rd Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85003

Write “Haiti” in the memo line of the check.

From the entire RIESTER Foundation Board thank you for considering this worthy cause.

Gary Kaasa
President, RIESTER Foundation

Please use the following URL for all updates from RIESTER on Haiti: http://www.riester.com/haiti

There have been at least two reports from ABC News mentioning the orphanage the RIESTER Foundation chose to assist in Haiti. The most recent report includes footage taken live during the earthquake at the Hope Center for Orphaned Girls:

Click here to see the video on the ABC website with footage taken during the quake at the orphanage.

Last week Diane Sawyer did a story focusing on the problems of parentless children in Haiti. In this report Tim’s friend Toby Munson Banks is mentioned by name and she appears in the video (in a red shirt) though she doesn’t speak on camera:

Click here to see Diane Sawyer’s report from last week on Haiti’s orphans and footage of Toby Munson Banks.

There are many worthy causes related to the massive devastation in Haiti. The RIESTER Foundation chose to raise money for the Hope Center for Orphaned Girls because of our personal connection and because of the immense problem of children in Haiti with no parents.

Visit riester.com/haiti for all posts related to this effort.

Thank you for your support.

Photo from the orphanage courtesy of Toby Munson Banks via Facebook. Photo taken in 2006.

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.

Corozilito Beach is within walking distance of the RIESTER Foundation Reserve. The beach is in an undeveloped and isolated part of northwestern Costa Rica.   Through the Foundation’s efforts, it was discovered that Corozilito Beach is one of the most significant sea turtle beaches in Central America.  Thousands of turtles lay their eggs on the beach – mostly Olive Ridley turtles but others too, including the huge and endangered Leatherback.

Last November I was fortunate to see some conservation work first hand when fellow RIESTER Foundation board member Mike Hopkins and I visited the beach with the director of PRETOMA’s sea turtle program late one evening. November is a beautiful month in Costa Rica.  The monsoon rains are subsiding and the rainforest at the edge of the beach is at its greenest, lushest growth.  That night the moon was full, the stars were spectacular in the Milky Way, the weather was cool and the tide was out. Because of the moon the beach was bright which is not ideal for turtles laying eggs. They prefer dark nights for protection.

Poachers of turtle eggs are a big problem in Costa Rica as this is a food source which many believe has Viagra-like properties.  That night we were looking for egg-laying sea turtles and poachers. We found neither.

We saw something remarkable instead: seven newly hatched turtles making their way to the ocean.  Their travel from the nest to the ocean was slow. Many dangers are lurking in the form of crabs, birds and other predators.  Mike and I served as guards and they all made it to the ocean.  You cannot tag baby turtles so nobody knows exactly what happens to them once they reach the water. Survival of the fittest plays a major role in who will survive, grow and perhaps someday come back to this beach.

Because of the success of the first year’s efforts the RIESTER Foundation continues to fund PRETOMA. We are the only funders for the Corozilito project.  Currently volunteers from around the world are monitoring the number of turtles that lay eggs nightly, tagging adult turtles for tracking and discouraging poachers on the beach.

Habitat preservation is critical not just for the survival of turtles and other species, but for human survival as well. In order to make our economy and way of life sustainable we must protect other species and preserve wild places. We are all stewards of this planet and our time here is short. The RIESTER Foundation exists to help pass on a healthy planet to the next generation. Protecting turtles and their habitat may seem like a small thing, but it is a vital part of our job as stewards.

A baby turtle heads for the ocean. Corozilito Beach, Costa Rica.

On the list of Gold awards was a point of sale poster for Gold’s Gym and a commemorative poster for the Cactus League Experience. Maricopa County Air Quality Department’s Clean Air initiative also took the top honor for its “Running Out of Air” thirty-second television commercial. As Gold ADDY winners, these three creative executions will be submitted for competition at the AAF District 12 ADDY Awards in Tucson, Ariz. on April 4.

The Silver awards also featured poster campaigns for Los Angeles Animal Services and Noble Beast. McDonald’s of Southern Idaho won a Silver award for an out-of-home piece featuring Ronald McDonald’s golf shoes; and Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau won a Silver designation for the online campaign titled “Dream.”

The Arizona Lottery won two Bronze awards both for thirty-second television commercials titled “¡Andale!” and “On Second Thought.” Additional Bronze awards included poster campaigns for the Cactus League Experience, Microblend Technologies, and Noble Beast. Finally, RIESTER’s own RIESTER Foundation website won a Bronze ADDY for its innovative flash design.

“We love the fact that we have clients who expect good, creative work. It’s gratifying to see them and our people get recognized,” said Tom Ortega, executive creative director for RIESTER. “RIESTER has won many awards in its 20 years as a marketing firm and we are truly humbled by each one. Any time we win an award it is because every discipline within our agency did something right.”

In addition to the many awards an event highlight was the inclusion of Mirja Riester, executive director of context planning; and Michael Murphy, executive director of media services as strong finalists for the coveted J. Terry Groener Ad Person of the Year Award. This award is given to Phoenix advertising professionals who exemplify the betterment of the advertising industry and are an active participant in community service. Tim Riester, president and CEO won the prestigious award in 2005.

The annual ceremony, hosted by the Phoenix Advertising Club, was held on March 14 at the Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale, Ariz. Each year the competition recognizes and rewards outstanding creative work in the art of advertising and is the industry’s largest, toughest and most representative competition for creative excellence. Work is judged by creative firms outside of the competing city. Gold Award winners will compete in the AAF District 12 ADDY awards on April 4, with top winners advancing to the Worldwide ADDY Awards competition on June 6 in Washington, D.C.