Practice Safety and Awareness with Wristbands

February is Safety Awareness Month, and you can raise safety awareness by purchasing silicone wristbands from wristbands.com at an affordable price. It is important to educate both adult and children in your community about the importance of safety awareness. Schools and organizations, such as the Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts of America, can do a variety of activities to introduce the topic of safety awareness to kids. It is also important to teach teenage girls, who may be walking alone after school or at night, about taking preventative actions to ensure their safety. Silicone wristbands are being used globally to promote awareness campaigns, like Safety Awareness Month. Wristbands.com offers five unique styles of silicone wristbands, from plain to premium, in 20 bright and bold colors. You can mix and match silicone wristbands colors with an assortment of colors and add custom printing, debossing, or embossing to create one-of-a-kind silicone wristbands to promote Safety Awareness Month during February.

If you are a member of a Neighborhood Watch program, invite local families to your home one evening and hand out a home safety checklist that parents and kids can go through their home and mark off together. When families return their completed checklists to you, reward them with silicone wristbands that have the message, “Safety Awareness Month 2013,” or “My Home is a Safe Haven.” Kids in your community will be proud to wear their silicone Safety Awareness Month wristbands because they are great for striking up conversation. Other kids at school will inquire about the Safety Awareness Month wristbands and will want to learn how they too can make their home safe and earn a stylish awareness campaign wristband. Here are some ideas you can put on your home safety checklist:

• Smoke alarm has working batteries
• Street numbers are clearly visible
• A trusted neighbor has keys to your home
• All entry doors have peepholes
• Fire extinguishers on both ends of house
• All electric outlets have faceplates
• Important documents are stored in a heat-resistant safe
• Sliding glass doors are properly secured
• Emergency numbers posted next to the phone
• Family disaster plan in place for fires/earthquakes

Schools and non-profit organizations, like the Boys and Girls Club of America, can also use wristbands to teach children and teenagers about Safety Awareness Month. Engage the children you mentor with an itinerary full of important safety tips to follow. If a child reminds one of their peers to practice a safe behavior, such as holding scissors downwards when walking, praise them with a custom imprinted Safety Awareness Month silicone wristband. Handing out rewards, like trendy wristbands, will give the children an incentive to continue their safety awareness training. You can also take a trip to teach safety awareness, such as to the fire station or police station. Wristbands.com carries all kinds of Tyvek®, vinyl, plastic, and holographic wristbands that are perfect for single-day applications. Easily identify your group with florescent-colored wristbands from wristbands.com on your Safety Awareness Month field trip.

Teenagers, especially females, should be taught safe habits during Safety Awareness Month, such as always being aware of their surroundings when walking anywhere alone. You can start an awareness campaign using silicone wristbands to raise donations for a women’s charity such as: RAINN (the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization), National Partnership for Women, V-Day (global activist movement to end violence against women and girls), or the Polaris Project (organization that battles all forms of human trafficking). Put flyers up to promote a women’s safety class around your town during Safety Awareness Month. Post them on message boards at community colleges, local universities, public gymnasiums, parks, YMCAs, churches, temples, and on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Charge $20 for the class that will be donated to the charity. At the end of the class, pass out custom silicone wristbands to everyone who successfully completed the course. Encourage mothers and their teenage daughters to attend so they can learn about Safety Awareness Month together. Use a bright silicone color like red or purple to stand out and draw attention to your charitable organization.

Purchase silicone wristbands in bulk quantity and save even more on your Safety Awareness Month wristbands. You can encourage the women and girls who participated in your women’s safety class to purchase 50 or 100 awareness campaign wristbands and sell them to friends and family for $3 a wristband. You will be amazed how much money you can quickly raise for an important cause using a promotional tool like silicone wristbands. Donating money to a non-profit organization that helps people and promotes an important cause makes people feel good about themselves. Give back to your neighborhood this Safety Awareness Month by starting up a wristband campaign. You can list your Safety Awareness Month wristband campaign on a resume, college applications, and even use it as a tax write off. Imagine all the people you can help by taking a miniscule amount of time out of your week and educating others on safety awareness. These types of assemblies bring families and communities together and will encourage people to become more involved in Neighborhood Watch and similar types of programs.    
Wristbands.com always has free giveaways – like t-shirts, pens, and watches – and our silicone wristbands are currently on sale! Don’t wait until the next Safety Awareness Month rolls around to start your safety awareness campaign using popular silicone wristbands. Order today and begin making an impact in your community that will last a lifetime. You will be recognized as a leader and someone who cares about protecting the safety of your friends, family, and community.  Only you can promote Safety Awareness Month using wristbands in your home town.

Video is courtesy of YouTube

Livestrong Cancer Foundation Dropped Lance Armstrong from The Title

“For most of its life, the organization has been known as the Livestrong Foundation, but making that change official is necessary and appropriate during a time of change for the organization,” McLane told Reuters.

Armstrong founded the charity in 1997, after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and before he first won the Tour de France. Since then, it has raised some $500 million and has evolved from a focus on testicular cancer research to addressing the needs of survivors of all cancers.

Armstrong, 41, announced on October 17 that he was stepping down as chairman but remaining on the board of the organization, which helps people and families affected by cancer. That followed an October 10 report by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) that said that the now-retired rider had been involved in the “most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.”

On October 22, Armstrong’s seven Tour de France victories were nullified and he was banned from cycling for life after the International Cycling Union (UCI) ratified the USADA’s sanctions against him. Then on Monday, Livestrong chairman Jeff Garvey said that Armstrong had voluntarily resigned from the foundation “to spare the organization any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding his cycling career.” He made the decision November 4, McLane said.

“All of us – especially Lance – wanted Livestrong to have a presence that was bigger than its founder,” board member Mark McKinnon told Reuters Wednesday in an email. “We knew that in order to make the most profound and lasting impact for cancer survivors, the cause and the organization had to have its own persona. That’s exactly what Livestrong has become and Lance helped shape that effort.”

Armstrong declined through a manager to comment. He said at the foundation’s gala last month that the organization’s mission is bigger than him. “We will not be deterred; we will move forward,” Armstrong said that night.

‘HOUSE THAT HE BUILT’

The group’s website has long been Livestrong.org, and a giant yellow “Livestrong” sign just inside the front door of the East Austin office greets visitors, but the name “Lance Armstrong Foundation” was still used regularly. For example, the yellow invitation to the foundation’s $1,000-a-head gala last month said: “On October 19, 2012, Lance Armstrong Foundation will celebrate 15 years of Livestrong.”

At the foundation’s office, seven yellow Armstrong Tour jerseys have been removed from the walls.

“Lance doesn’t want to be a distraction from the foundation’s cause – serving cancer patients and survivors,” said McKinnon, a board member and an Austin media producer and communications strategist. “That’s why he resigned from the foundation’s board. In the spirit of that noble decision, the foundation has to make appropriate changes as well.”

The retired cyclist has always denied he took banned substances during his career but decided not to challenge the USADA charges against him. Sponsors including  giant Nike Inc, sunglasses maker Oakley and brewer Anheuser-Busch have dropped him or have said they won’t renew his contract.

The Austin father of five, who had been spending time in Hawaii, tweeted on November 10 that he was “Back in Austin and just layin’ around …” He linked to a photo of himself lying on a couch, with his seven framed yellow Tour jerseys on the wall.

“At the moment, he feels it’s better for the organization that he step away a bit,” McKinnon said.

Board member Dr. David Johnson, an oncologist as well as a cancer , said he supports Armstrong’s decision to step down “even though I think he’s the heart and soul of the organization.” Johnson said that Armstrong was always engaged at board meetings, speaking up if he doesn’t agree with something and chiming in with passion.

“I think there was some discussion that took place between him and a number of members of the foundation agonizing over what to do,” said Johnson, professor and chairman of the department of internal medicine at UT Southwestern School of Medicine in Dallas.

Johnson, who has known Armstrong for years, said that the idea of a name change is “painful.”

“I don’t know that there was a feeling until now that it was even a necessary thing to do,” he said.

Livestrong started as the name of an educational program at the foundation and in 2004 became the word on Nike wristbands, 55 million of which were sold by the following year.

“As the yellow bands sort of exploded, Livestrong just kept growing and growing,” foundation CEO Doug Ulman told Reuters in August. Being known as Livestrong “wasn’t really a conscious decision, it was just sort of like, We’re going to lead with our brand.'”

Armstrong, who is the largest donor to Livestrong, having contributed $7 million, is still welcome at the foundation, officials said.

“It’s a house that he built,” McLane said.

(Reporting by Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

What to do with LIVESTRONG Wristbands Now?

What is the value of the message on this silicone wristband?

Some people suggested to erase the “v” on the LIVE to become LIE.  Others added additional words ” TO WIN” to become “LIE STRONG TO WIN“.

The yellow rubberized wristband on my left arm caught the attention of the women scanning all my Ben & Jerry’s frozen yogurt containers in the supermarket checkout stand Saturday morning.

“Hey, live strong! oh sorry, lie strong” she blurted out, holding up her own left arm to display her yellow bracelet.

A few seconds after I swiped my ATM card, I figured out what provoked this band-bonding moment. She was implying we were in public support of the “LIVESTRONG” slogan to fight cancer on behalf of cycling marvel Lance Armstrong.

I didn’t have the heart to correct her.

“CHEAT TO WIN,” it said on my piece of silicone.

I slip this one on once and a while for a reminder – don’t believe everything you read, don’t get sucked into everything that seems to be the perfect solution and don’t be surprised when athletes fail to live up to the ridiculous standards we often expect of them.

I shouldn’t be caught off-guard with others who still don’t get the message.

Back in 2006, after Floyd Landis was stripped of his Tour de France victory, the “CHEAT TO WIN” parody bracelets were produced by The Onion, the satiric and savvy “Nation’s Finest News Source” that seized upon the opportunity to make fun of the Armstrong phenomenon that had become a Nike-induced fashion accessory.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation and Nike were behind cranking out these $1scraps of rubber into a multi-million dollar fundraiser in the name of cancer-curing research.

Presidential candidates sported them, as well as top-flight actors and actresses, Olympic athletes and anyone else who wanted to be part of Team Armstrong. Wikipedia even has a page for it.
It led to spin-offs of different colors, raising awareness upon awareness of other diseases that needed our funding.

Yellow fever must have been one of the causes we failed to fully acknowledge.

While we were kept aware Armstrong had to keep fighting off doping allegations that came with every one of his seven Tour de France titles, his tests kept turning up negative.

This past week, something snapped back.

The latest “overwhelming” evidence produced by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency forced Armstrong to decide it was time to step down as chairman of this charity he founded 15 years ago. Nike was one of several who dropped him as a corporate sponsor quicker than a chain coming off a sprocket.

What a nice strong-arm tactic by the uber-company that had created this global marketing icon. Phil Knight might as as well have been leading Armstrong away to shame jail with wrists bound by “LIVESTRONG” bracelets.

So, Phil, what do you propose we do with all these Armstrong bands of support now?
At the Livestrong online store, the thing that comes in three sizes continues to sell – 10 for 10 bucks, 100 for $100. Because the hundreds of millions of dollars already raised isn’t enough.
At the Onion store, the “CHEAT TO WIN” bands aren’t around any longer. Try eBay.com.
Which one speaks louder now?

The one athlete who might have changed a huge segment of the sporting population into believing he could power through against the C-word makes any us now mull over our own C-words: Conflicted, confused and probably even more cynical.

Wendy Adams of Manchester, Pa., told CNN this week she and her sisters wore the bracelets when their dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004.

He died a year later. The family respected his wishes by having him cremated wearing the bracelet. 

But Adams said she can’t wear hers anymore. She now refers to the seven-time Tour winning* (to be determined) Armstrong as “a liar, a manipulator.”

Some have taken to adjusting their bracelets to darkening out the “V” so it reads “LIE STRONG.” A few years ago, some guy started cranking out black “LIVE WRONG” bands. Not to mock those who had cancer, but have a laugh at the expense of those who dropped out of Corporate America to get on their bikes and live in the mountains.

With mountains of evidence now apparently sending Armstrong to retreat from Corporate America, there’s a larger mountain of yellow wristbands that must be dealt with.
Use them to hold the trash-can liner in place?

Stretch them around the stack of Armstrong biographies on your book shelf as you donate them to the local library, to be shelved under “sports,” “history” or “supernatural occurrences”?

Scrap that. The stupid thing is Nike actually has a program on its website that could help here.
It has been soliciting used or broken “LIVESTRONG” bracelets for years as part of its “Reuse-a-Shoe” program. They’ll crush ’em up and regenerate them into material used to resurface a playground.
The best answer is to recycle, at a time when our most notorious cyclist soon will be trying to reinvent himself and restore his image in the court of public opinion.

Of course, those who want to keep the bands as a reminder that they or someone they love actually beat cancer, more power to you.

Let the grieving process continue as you read more about Armstrong’s legacy.
Those of us who keep our “CHEAT TO WIN” band nearby as a reminder of things we can’t fix, maybe more compassion for us.

Our grieving process is a daily issue.

That, and the skin that thickens around the band just makes it tougher and tougher to slip off each time.

Article was sourced from Daily News

The Future of LIVESTRONG Wristbands After Doping Scandal

Overcome by a doping scandal that has chased him for years, Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France winner, stepped down Wednesday as chairman of his own foundation. Soon after, his leading corporate sponsors dropped him too.

Now a movement that has raised millions to fight cancer and spawned a cultural phenomenon of cause-related silicone wristbands has been drawn into the scandal by the onetime hero.

Treister, at 41 the same age as Armstrong, said he wasn’t sure what he was going to do when asked whether he would keep wearing Armstrong’s band.

“I need to see how the world reacts,” he said. “I don’t want to be a conversation piece everywhere I go.”

It remains unclear how the world will react, but the worldwide sporting goods empire of Nike Inc. on Wednesday severed ties with Armstrong after helping to create his foundation’s iconic yellow wristband and raise more than $100 million. Later in the day, Trek Bicycles and Anheuser-Busch did the same.

“Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade,” the company said in a prepared statement, “it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him.”

But the future of Armstrong the man and Livestrong the brand and cancer-fighting cause may not be intertwined. Despite the stunning developments, experts say Armstrong’s charity may continue to prosper.

Although he strongly denies doping, Armstrong in August decided not to fight the overwhelming evidence against him compiled by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. He maintains his innocence, but the evidence included sworn testimony from 26 people including 15 riders, financial payments, emails and lab test results, USADA CEO Travis Tygart said in a statement last week.

The growing evidence against the near-mythical figure who beat testicular cancer took its toll on fans. People began crossing out the V on the wristband so it read “Lie strong.”

Michael Keefe, 28, wore a Livestrong band when it first came out to support the foundation. Then his grandfather was diagnosed with cancer.

“That’s the appeal,” he said. “At first it was a symbol and people thought they were supporting Lance and cancer. But they took it personally and started applying it to their own lives.”

But Keefe, who still wears the band on his wrist, said he now feels as though he’s going through a grieving process.

“At first it was denial (that Armstrong was doping),” he said. “Now I’m getting to anger. How could he have lied about it for so many years?”

Mike Barahona, a 27-year-old civil engineer and long-distance runner, says he has proudly worn his Livestrong bracelet every day since February, when he registered for the Chicago Marathon as a member of Team Livestrong.

Armstrong’s downward spiral has failed to diminish Barahona’s admiration for the cycling legend.

“The foundation is not about cycling,” Barahona said. “It’s about cancer awareness. My point of view is that organization has not changed at all.”

Nonprofit experts share that sentiment about the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which was established in 1997. In 2003 it launched the Livestrong brand, widening its cancer patient support services. Today the foundation, known by both names, reports that it has served more than 2.5 million people through its programs and raised more than $470 million.

Chicago-based Imerman Angels, which provides one-on-one cancer support and helps link cancer survivors for mutual support, receives an estimated $50,000 of its $600,000 annual budget from Livestrong, said founder Jonny Imerman.

“Every day at least one person comes to us through them,” Imerman said, adding that Livestrong provides valuable consulting to Imerman Angels. “They’re an amazingorganization.”

Diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2001, Imerman continues wearing a Livestrong bracelet on his right wrist.

“I’m wearing it proudly and that won’t change,” he said. “I’ll wear it as long as there’s cancer around.”

Livestrong will weather Armstrong’s departure, said Ken Berger, head of Charity Navigator.

“It’s an extremely unusual situation,” he said. “Nine times out of 10, the charity suffers when something bad happens to the famous person it’s associated with. But Livestrong has been the exception to the rule.”

Leslie Lenkowsky, professor of public affairs and philanthropic studies at Indiana University, has followed the foundation for the past decade and calls Livestrong a “model of celebrity philanthropy.”

Article was quoted from Chicago Tribute

Safe Driving Campaign with Rubber Wristbands

Rubber wristbands featuring an anti-drink-driving message were issued to officers during recent road policing training sessions at police national headquarters in Wellington.

The black bands have the words “Stop a mate driving drunk, bloody legend” and “ghost chips” printed on them.

The police are giving them out to the public and many officers have decided to wear them, too.
National road policing bosses adopted the wristband idea after similar ones were made to promote the Safer Communities Together campaign.

In 2009, Auckland police dog handler Sergeant Guy Baldwin became an internet sensation with a memorable appearance on the crime-stopping show Police Ten 7.
While Mr Baldwin spoke with a suspected car thief, the conversation shifted to buying pies from the local service station.

“At three o’clock in the morning, you’re buying a pie from the BP station.
What must you always do?” he asked.

“You must always blow on the pie. Safer communities together.”

Those words of caution went viral and even ended up on the front of T-shirts. Police also decided to use the slogan, printing it on wristbands.

Following the success of a New Zealand Transport Authority television advertisement in which the ghost of a teenager who died driving drunk offers his haunted friend a chip, another batch of wristbands was whipped up.

The idea for the latest wristbands came from Lesley Wallis, national road policing communications manager.
She said they were a very low-cost and low-key way to support the advertising campaign.

“They are intended for police to give to the public when they are talking to young people in schools, expos, community engagement opportunities etc,” Ms Wallis said. “They have proved to be hugely popular. Some police officers wear them, too.”

Ms Wallis said the wristbands were no longer being made and there were no plans for more.

“The advertising campaign that these wristbands support was hugely successful and resonated with the young people we were trying to reach. The wristbands are a simple way of extending that reach a little bit further.”

Wristbands – A Symbol of Hope

Cancer wristbands made their first appearance in 2004 when Lance Armstrong debuted the now infamous yellow LIVESTRONG cancer wristbands. These wristbands served—and still serve—as a symbol of hope and shed light on the fight against testicular cancer.

The yellow LIVESTRONG cancer wristband may be a simple idea, but it is a powerful one—so powerful that it has spread to bring attention to other forms of cancer, including:

·         Bladder cancer, childhood cancer and liver cancer are also represented with yellow cancer wristbands

·         Metastatic breast cancer and skin cancer, represented with black cancer wristbands

·         bowel cancer, colon cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer and rectal cancer, represented with blue cancer wristbands

·         Liver cancer, represented with light blue cancer wristbands

·         Kidney cancer, represented with orange cancer wristbands

·         Breast cancer, inflammatory breast cancer, metastatic breast cancer, represented with pink cancer wristbands

·         Neck cancer, represented with red cancer wristbands

·         Bone cancer and head and neck cancer, represented with white cancer wristbands

·         Cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, gynecological cancer and uterine cancer, represented with teal cancer wristbands

·         Brain cancer, represented with grey cancer wristbands

·         General cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, pancreatic cancer, and thyroid cancer represented with purple cancer wristbands

Purple cancer wristbands can also represent cancer survivors. Additionally, it is the selected color for Relay for Life—the main volunteer-driven cancer fundraising event of the American Cancer Society.

Since cancer wristbands are intended for long-term wear, they are extremely durable and comfortable. The come in a few different styles:

·         Embossed silicone

·         Debossed silicone

·         Screen printed silicone

To really inspire, motivate and spread the word about cancer, you can include a message on cancer wristbands, by embosssing, debossing or screen printing onto cancer wristbands:

·         “Fear Nothing”

·         “Fight Like a Girl”

·         “Courage”

·         “Feel the Power”

·         “Live Free, Smoke Free”

·         “I survived”

·         “Cancer sucks”

There are a variety of ways to effectively put cancer wristbands to use. One way is to host a fundraising event. Maybe there is a specific type of cancer for which you’d like to raise funds. Give a cancer wristband to every guest who makes a donation of $10 or more. Another idea is to organize a walk/run to raise money. Distribute cancer wristbands to every participant who raises a minimum of $20. You could have an online donation drive, too. Anyone who makes a donation online of $25 or more receives a cancer wristband.

Sadly, most of us know someone fighting cancer. Cancer wristbands can raise awareness of one particular person who is fighting for his or her life. Cancer treatment is outrageously expensive. An effective way for family and friends to raise money to help cover the medical expenses of a cancer patient is to host an auction within the community—raising awareness, hope AND funds. Cancer wristbands can be embossed, debossed or screen printed with the name of the person fighting cancer, along with the word, “Hope”. These can be given as a thank you gift: Thank you for supporting me. Thank you for helping me in this terrifying fight against cancer. Thank you for helping me beat cancer and kick it to the curb!

Wearing cancer wristbands offers both support and strength to the person who is fighting cancer. It makes all the difference in the world to know that people care. There is strength in numbers. The support of a community can empower and individual. It’s a powerful contributor toward healing.

When someone we love is fighting cancer, most of us feel helpless. Wearing a cancer wristband with the name of our loved one on it can make us feel like we are making a difference—as small as it may be. When it comes to cancer, everyone wishes they could do more. Wearing a cancer wristband brings awareness to all who see it. It may catch the eye of a stranger who decides to ask about it to appease his or her curiosity. When you explain about your family member who has cancer, they may feel moved enough to make a donation or wear his or her own cancer wristband. Maybe they know someone who is fighting for their life, too. Maybe the two of you can find a support system with one another.

If you are looking for an inexpensive way to raise awareness of cancer and a highly effective fundraising tool, cancer wristbands might just be the answer. Cancer wristbands are a fashion accessory that symbolizes hope for a cure.