BowStern Announces “Project Mayday” Winner

Anthony Phoenix Branca Foundation Receives $100,000 in Marketing Support

(Tallahassee, Fla.)  BowStern, a fully integrated marketing firm headquartered in Tallahassee, is pleased to announce The Anthony Phoenix Branca Foundation (APB Foundation) as winner of the Project Mayday 2015. The APB Foundation will receive $100,000 in marketing support at no charge, for an entire year from BowStern. Services will include the development of a full marketing plan, brand development, web design, public relations and social media. Work begins immediately.

The APB Foundation was created after Anthony Phoenix Branca was killed by a distracted driver in November 2014. The Foundation’s mission is to raise awareness of the consequences of distracted driving, to impact legislation regarding on the subject, to support families of those killed by distracted driving and to strengthen the community through charity and outreach.

“Project Mayday was designed simply to help the groups in our community who are working to make a difference,” said Kelly Robertson, CEO, BowStern. “89 organizations were nominated, and more than 37,000 votes were cast online. Each of these nonprofits is deserving. It was an incredibly hard decision for the team to make.”

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, distracted driving is any activity that could take a person’s attention away from driving and includes texting, talking on the phone, eating and drinking, grooming, reading, watching a video and more. In 2013, 3,154 people were killed and 424,000 people were injured in crashes involving distracted drivers. These statistics make it clear that The APB Foundation’s cause is both timely and important.

“I am humbled and thrilled” said Lora Branca, Vice President of The APB Foundation. “We were just one of so many worthy causes in our community. I am so excited to start work with BowStern to help educate people about the dangers of distracted driving and to help others who have experienced a similar loss.”

Although there was only one winner of Project Mayday, BowStern was inspired by all of the applications received and has chosen to try to help the other organizations by launching a community page intended to pair nonprofits in need with professionals who can help them.

“There is just so much need in our community,” Tom Derzypolski, President of BowStern, said. “We sifted through dozens of applications and wanted to help every single one. Knowing that our community is full of talented designers and public relations experts, we want to match them with nonprofits who could benefit from their expertise and experience. This community page will help facilitate important introductions and new relationships.”

BowStern.com/Community lists all of the nonprofits nominated for Project Mayday, their contacts information and a brief description of their marketing needs. Anyone with any marketing or design skills can find someone to help on this page.

Project Mayday was developed by BowStern specifically for nonprofits in Tallahassee and the Big Bend area. In all, BowStern received 91 applications for 89 local nonprofits and more than 37,000 votes from individuals throughout the Big Bend. The winner of Project Mayday was chosen based on a consensus of the BowStern team after the votes from three separate components were evaluated: public voting, out-of-market review and input from the BowStern team.

For more information about BowStern, visit BowStern.com.

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