Rancho Santa Fe, CA, Aug. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With just over a month to go until the global event, Helen Woodward Animal Center, in partnership with Blue Buffalo, is deep into preparation to unite with animal-lovers worldwide for the 11th Annual Remember Me Thursday®. Observed each year on the fourth Thursday in September, the campaign has garnered an esteemed group of celebrities who join with animal welfare organizations and other animal-proponents to become an unstoppable, integrated online voice advocating for orphan pets. This year, actors and humanitarians Andie MacDowell and daughter Rainey Qualley have taken the lead as the 2023 Spokes-Team. Helen Woodward Animal Center is honored to have their voices at the helm of this year’s campaign. Helen Woodward Animal Center encourages the world to join with these philanthropic celebrities and to be a part of this very special day, Thursday, September 28th, 2023.
Andie MacDowell is a renowned actress who received critical acclaim for her role in Sex, Lies and Videotape. She has appeared in several notable films, including Groundhog Day, St. Elmo’s Fire, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and Magic Mike XXL. In addition to being a Loreal spokesperson, she recently starred in the Hallmark Channel drama series Cedar Cove and starred in the action film Granite Mountain. Off-screen, Andie enjoys time with her family, horses, many pets including rescue dog Ava, and is a supporter of many charitable causes.
Regarding her love of animals, MacDowell stated, “We’ve always had some kind of pet. We had cats or dogs, and the love that my children received from them I understood deep to my core. I also loved watching my children return that love, understanding and the responsibility of having a pet.”
Rainey Qualley is an American Actress and music artist. She releases and writes music under the name Rainsford. She is a lifelong lover of animals and is very active in the community in Los Angeles, volunteering to help foster kittens and helping get the word out about different animals that need to be adopted. She currently has 3 cats named Jesus, Myrtle and Wizard, 1 dog she adopted from Helen Woodward Animal Center named Arlo and 5 backyard chickens.
“I lived in Montana as a young child where we had horses, cows, chickens, pigs, bunnies, dogs and plenty of cats, which I’ve always had a particularly soft spot for,” explained Qualley. “Loving animals as much as I do, I’ve been vegetarian for 17 years now. It brings me so much joy to take care of animals.”
Helen Woodward Animal Center representatives met both celebrities at the Hollywood Beauty Awards last March. The Center was there as the beneficiary of the prestigious event and brought orphan puppies as Red Carpet “CorresPAWndents.” Qualley immediately fell in love with a furry Center orphan Schnauzer-blend and has since adopted the dog she named Arlo. While there, both Qualley and MacDowell took time to discuss their devotion to rescue and animal welfare and a friendship was born.
Last Friday, Qualley visited Helen Woodward Animal Center to record a PSA for the upcoming campaign and to tour the facility. Both MacDowell and Qualley will champion social media posts to encourage their many followers to echo their posts of support for animal adoption on Remember Me Thursday®.
“This day was started to be a voice for the voiceless,” explained Helen Woodward Animal Center President and CEO and Remember Me Thursday® creator Mike Arms. “If we can get the whole world talking about rescue on this one day each year, we can create quite a noise. When we have the support of incredible celebrities like Andie MacDowell and Rainey Qualley, we can grow that voice even louder and send it even further. There is no way to accurately express the gratitude we have to these incredible individuals whose celebrity power is truly saving lives.”
Now in its 11th 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 has resulted in the topic trending each year on both Facebook and Twitter, garnering more than 2 billion social media impressions since its start.
For more information on Remember Me Thursday and a full list of participating celebrities and animal welfare organizations, go to www.remembermethursday.org. For more information on the US west coast candle-lighting events contact PR Manager Jessica Gercke at (858) 756-4117 x 335 or jessicag@animalcenter.org.
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About Helen Woodward Animal Center
Helen Woodward Animal Center is a private, non-profit organization where “people help animals and animals help people.” Founded in 1972 in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., the Center provides services for more than 90,000 people and more than 10,000 animals annually through adoptions, educational and therapeutic programs both onsite and throughout the community. Helen Woodward Animal Center is also the creator of the International Home 4 the Holidays pet adoption drive, the International Remember Me Thursday® campaign and The Business of Saving Lives Workshops, teaching the business of saving lives to animal welfare leaders from around the world. For more information, go to: www.animalcenter.org.
About Remember Me Thursday®
Animal lovers and organizations across the globe unite on the fourth Thursday in September to light a candle in remembrance of the millions of orphan pets who lost their lives without the benefit of a loving home and to shine a light via social media on the millions of orphan pets still waiting for their forever homes. The Remember Me Thursday® global awareness campaign is championed by Mike Arms, President of Helen Woodward Animal Center, and creator of both the International Pet Adoptathon and successful Home 4 The Holidays program which, in partnership with national animal organizations, has placed over 20 million pets in homes since 1999. For more information, please visit www.remembermethursday.org or via hashtags #RememberMeThursday and #ShineALight on social media.
Attachments
- 2023 Remember Me Thursday Spokesperson Andie MacDowell and her dog Ava
- 2023 Remember Me Thursday Spokesperson Rainey Qualley and her Helen Woodward Animal Center rescue dog Arlo
