RMT was established in 2013 by Helen Woodward Animal Center President and CEO Mike Arms. Moved by the staggering statistics that over a million homeless pets lose their lives each year in the U.S., Arms put out a call to rescue organizations in an attempt to create a social media global awareness campaign. As creator of the International Pet Adoptathon and the International Home 4 the Holidays® program (placing over 18 million pets in homes since 1999), he was able to send out an expansive request and the response was significant.
"We understand that not everyone is in the position to adopt a pet," explained Arms, "but we also know that anyone who loves animals and is tapped into social media has the ability to share a message of support. By uniting all of these social media voices on one day, we can make a larger impact and really affect change."
Now in its ninth year, RMT has been supported by 190 countries with hundreds of thousands of individuals and more than 1,000 separate animal welfare organizations around the globe holding candle-lighting ceremonies of their own, spreading the message on social media, or lighting a virtual candle. The enormous swell of celebrity support includes this year's spokesperson Brittany Aldean, as well as stars such as Kristin Chenoweth, Carrie Ann Inaba, Katherine Heigl, Rick Springfield, Wynonna Judd, Bethenny Frankel, George Lopez, along with dozens of athletes, designers, musicians, and social media influencers. With over 100 luminaries onboard, the star power behind the campaign has resulted in the topic trending each year on both Facebook and Twitter, garnering more than 1.5 billion social media impressions since its start.
Last year's pandemic-restricted virtual event united representatives from animal welfare organizations and campaign luminaries as far away as Australia, Estonia, and Singapore via international Zoom Call. The emotional meeting was so impactful that Helen Woodward Animal Center has decided to incorporate a virtual global connection in this year's ceremony, as well. Speakers from each organization will share the state of animal welfare in their area and how they are commemorating the pet adoption awareness campaign.
The ceremony will also include words from RMT founder and Center President and CEO Mike Arms, a reading of the official RMT poem and a presentation of the RMT Rescue Pet Hero award. The event will end with a heartfelt international candle lighting in remembrance of the millions of orphan pets still waiting in shelters for their own forever homes.
The very special international RMT Zoom call and ceremony will be available online for the animal-loving public to watch. Those who wish to register to watch can click here. The public can also get involved by tweeting, tagging, posting and sharing the beauty and life-saving significance of pet adoption using the hashtags #RememberMeThursday and #SeeTheLight and tagging @hwac.
Animal-lovers can also win life-saving funds, toys and food for adoptable pets looking for forever families at their favorite non-profit, pet adoption organization. To enter the Remember Me Thursday Social Media Contest, simply upload your rescue pet's photo and story to the #RememberMeThursday Photo Wall for a chance to win!* (*Restrictions apply. Final selection remains at the sole discretion of Helen Woodward Animal Center).
For more information on Remember Me Thursday® and a full list of participating celebrities and animal welfare organizations, go to www.remembermethursday.org.
SOURCE Helen Woodward Animal Center
Related Links
http://www.animalcenter.org
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