The week of June 14 is designated as National Flag Week when the President of the United States will issue a proclamation urging U.S. citizens to fly the American flag for the duration of that week. Flag Day is June 14 annually.

Most Americans can tell you what day of the year that Independence Day, or Veterans Day lands on each year, but Flag Day and National Flag Week is commonly an overlooked event. This is not to say that this special day to honor our flag has been forgotten. Many communities and civic groups arrange special ceremonies on, or around, Flag Day and National Flag Week each year; and, the Young Marines youth organization is no exception.

“Young Marine units are very active in civic events to honor the American flag, and they do so all year long,” says Kessler, “We believe that we can do even more as a national organization to help inform and enlighten the status of Flag Day and National Flag Week in our communities nationwide.”

Young Marine youth members are encouraged to not only participate in Flag Day/National Flag Week, but to take it a step further to raise awareness and create excitement in their communities surrounding the celebration across the country. During the Young Marines “Raising Awareness to the Flag” campaign, units will use a variety of venues and communication resources, such as their local media and community events.

Community organizations are encouraged to contact local Young Marine units when planning their Flag Day activities in their town. To find a unit near you, visit: www.YoungMarines.com and click on the “Find a Unit” link at the top of the national homepage.

Media outlets might consider interviews with local youth members of the Young Marines. Producers and editors can contact the national Director of Public Relations, Janelle Johnsen for more ideas tailored to your viewers/readership at: media@youngmarines.com.

About the Young Marines youth organization:
The Young Marines is a national non-profit 501(c)3 youth education and service program for boys and girls ages 8 through completion of high school. The program focuses on teaching the values of leadership, teamwork and self-discipline so its members can live and promote a healthy, drug-free lifestyle. The national organization is comprised of over 10,000 youths and 2,800 adult volunteers in nearly 300 units across the United States.

For more information about the Young Marines youth organization, visit the official website: http://www.YoungMarines.com .

News Source: Young Marines :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

On a whim she made him a Facebook page where she could talk about adopting rabbits and rabbit care. She posted adoption ads and wrote about how Flopsy loved to flip things. She started making adoption awareness posters using his image. People began to share them and his page. Gretta told her family and friends that he was going to be the $7.50 rabbit that changed the world for all rabbits.

By 2011, Flopsy Parker had become a household name for his humor, his message of adoption and his honesty about how much care rabbits need. He was even quoted by the Wall Street Journal when he was outraged over the Royal Shakespeare Company using real dead rabbits in their stage productions.

Gretta taught herself how to make designs with his images and started a store on Cafepress using Flopsy’s image and her designs that sent the message that shelter bunnies are the best kind. She donated the proceeds to a different rabbit rescue each month. In the summer of 2011, Gretta pooled all her savings to start Baskets for Bunnies, Inc. a 501(c) non-profit that sends supplies to rabbit rescues on a monthly basis. Flopsy was of course the “spokesbunny.”

Flopsy not only inspired her to do more but he had become her teacher to the issues that rabbits face. The truth is rabbits are the third most abandoned animal in the United States but they do not get the funding or protection they need due to agricultural laws that govern them. She set her sights to changing this. By fall 2011, she started making plans to get funding for a nationwide spay and neuter program for rabbits.

In December 2011, with the help of a rabbit toy company called Pet Rabbit Toys she started Toys for Hops; a program to raise toys to send to rabbits in rescues in shelters. In less than 16 days, with the support of all of Flopsy’s Facebook fans they raised 2,000 toys that went to rescues and shelters all over the United States by Christmas.

On the evening of December 28th Flopsy Parker passed away suddenly from a congenital kidney defect. His Facebook page got so many posts that it shut his timeline down in less than 24 hours. People posting how he had influenced them to adopt, or how he made them laugh. His mother received letters from all over the world, all people who had been touched by a $7.50 rabbit that another family had chosen to give up. Gretta had been right he had started to change the world for rabbits.

To cope with her grief, Gretta Parker wrote a book called “The Easter Bunny That Grew Up” as a tribute to his short but big life. She decided that death would not be the end of their journey together but the beginning of a new one. Flopsy would always be her partner, son, best friend and continue to lead her to fight for the rights of rabbits. The book teaches about researching an animal’s care needs before buying, supporting rabbit rescues, and that sometimes the greatest treasures are the ones other people discard.

His mother plans to use the proceeds from the book to continue the work of Baskets for Bunnies, Inc. and to build a sanctuary in Flopsy’s name. The Flopsy Parker Memorial Sanctuary will house rabbits with behavioral or health issues and elderly rabbits. It will truly be the sanctuary that a mother’s love built.

For more information visit http://www.theeasterbunnythatgrewup.com .

Flopsy Parker Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/flopsylparker .

News Source: Baskets for Bunnies, Inc. :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

Other project objectives include management and support of national web sites and production related duties in addition to providing helpdesk services to customers. Through the Financial Computer Systems Support contract, iFOS will provide programming and user support by maintaining and/or improving the agency’s Working Capital Fund (WCF) report center website and assisting end users in obtaining the required reports for operational decision-making. These services will be part of the Forest Service efforts to maintain and improve reporting efforts of the agency-wide financial operations.

The firm will also conduct and monitor full-scope Certification and Accreditation (C&A) program phases that integrate into the agency specific System Development Lifecycle (SDLC). This effort will continue to provide the agency with an understanding of how C&A corresponds to the overall implementation of a system within the Forest Service environment. iFOS delivers formally documented recommendations on overall security posture enhancements for public systems.

“iFOS looks forward to providing dedicated expertise at government agencies like U.S. Forest Service. The entire firm is excited on receiving the Financial Computer Systems award. It demonstrates our ability as a small business is able to deliver big results,” commented Tawanda M. Smith, President and CEO, iFOS, LLC.

About Intelligent Fiscal Optimal Solutions (iFOS), LLC:
Intelligent Fiscal Optimal Solutions (iFOS)(R) Managing Consultants, LLC is a 8(a) certified, woman-owned small business of staff augmentation, management consulting and training of Accounting, Acquisition, Grants and Financial Management Support Services. iFOS offers specialized Business and Financial Management Solutions to help public agencies and other organizations with their oversight responsibilities of pre-audit readiness, business intelligence and analytics and electronic modernization of public systems. The company professionals have 100+ combined years of prior public service expertise and have successfully completed assignments to improve the quality of fiscal programs including the oversight, maintenance, administration, reporting and audit of complex public operations.

The company is headquartered in Clarksville, Maryland. For more information, visit: http://www.ifoscorp.com .

News Source: Intelligent Fiscal Optimal Solutions :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

“I grew up with an entrepreneurial driven spirit and learned how to build business ideas easily and quickly,” says Gray. But years later he would find himself in a position he wasn’t wired for and knew that if he wanted a different future it would require a big leap of faith.

To launch his start-up, Cavanaugh would get up at four or five every morning, fire up the coffee pot and work a couple of hours before dropping off his son and heading to work. In the evening he would work until midnight only to get back up and start all over again. Two months later the business plan was complete, he was ready to leave his job and had come up with a unique name for the company.

The Entrepreneur Cafe, LLC – www.ecafellc.com – is a business development company that helps entrepreneurs operate on a larger scale while achieving more money, more time, more control over their futures and more fulfillment from their businesses endeavors. This year Cavanaugh is on a mission to help launch 100 new start-up companies.

“Starting a business doesn’t have to be complicated, for many future owners it’s all about taking that first step.”

The Entrepreneur Cafe, LLC is offering Small Business Consultations – http://www.ecafellc.com/services/business-condultation – which are designed to help bring clarity to new business ideas before considerable time and money have been spent. Over the past eight years, the Chicago born entrepreneur has been a strong promoter of youth entrepreneurship founding the Young Entrepreneurs Program (YEP), has taught entrepreneurship at the college level, used entrepreneurship to address social issues including aiding homeless families all while helping launch new businesses and helping established companies grow.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau there are an estimated 27.3 million small businesses in the United States. Entrepreneurs often face a similar set of obstacles in their efforts to start and grow their businesses. These obstacles include inexperienced management, outdated marketing efforts, a need for better financial controls and a lack of small business resources.

To assist small businesses in addressing these issues, The Entrepreneur Cafe, LLC has expanded its social networking efforts by offering entrepreneurs more resources via its Daily Grind Newsletter, Twitter ( www.twitter.com/#!/TheECafe ), Facebook ( www.facebook.com/pages/The-Entrepreneur-Cafe-LLC/160182630678613 ), and LinkedIn. After establishing a location in Chicago in 2008, Cavanaugh is currently looking to open a second office in the Washington, D.C. area.

For more information, contact The Entrepreneur Cafe, LLC at http://www.ecafellc.com or:
Cavanaugh L. Gray
Director of Business Development
Phone/Fax: 877-511-4820
cgray@ecafellc.com.

News Source: The Entrepreneur Cafe LLC :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

Founded in 1853 by Ann Pamela Cunningham, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association is the oldest national historic preservation organization in the United States. Under Ms. Cunningham’s leadership, the Association sought to raise $200,000 in a national appeal to save Washington’s home. Five years later, the Association purchased Mount Vernon from Washington’s great-grandnephew and began to restore it. In 1860, the Association finally opened the estate to the public, and it has remained open as a monument to President Washington ever since.

Today, approximately one million people visit Mount Vernon each year. The mansion, now restored with many of its original furnishings, is open for tours. Guests are free to roam the gardens and grounds, where a variety of original buildings still stand. At the pioneer farm site, as well as at the working blacksmith shop, distillery, and gristmill, visitors to Mount Vernon can get a better sense of Washington’s life as a farmer by seeing important components of his estate operating much as they were when Washington died in 1799. On a hillside overlooking the Potomac, President Washington is buried with his wife Martha and several other family members.

“We appreciate very much that the Gingrich Foundation has set an example for others to follow,” said James C. Rees, president of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. “Because we don’t receive any government support, we depend upon the generosity of a wide range of patriotic Americans.”

“The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association has preserved one of America’s historical treasures for more than 150 years,” said Callista Gingrich, president of the Gingrich Foundation. “The Association’s work has helped generations of Americans better understand the Father of Our Country.”

The Mount Vernon Ladies Association cares for President Washington’s home and estate without the use of public funds.

The Gingrich Foundation is a domestic non-profit corporation founded by Callista and Newt Gingrich to support charitable purposes.

Support the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association today: http://www.mountvernon.org/shop/donation-mount-vernon .

Media Contact:
Ross Worthington
Gingrich Productions
202-375-2034
rworthington@gingrichproductions.com.

News Source: Gingrich Foundation :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

In 1982, both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island were in need of significant restoration when President Ronald Reagan asked Lee Iacocca, Chairman of the Chrysler Corporation, to lead a fundraising effort dedicated to their preservation.

For three decades, the Foundation has worked together with the National Park Service to restore the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Renovations to the Statue of Liberty have included rebuilding its interior structural support as well as the installation of a Statue of Liberty Museum in the statue’s base. At Ellis Island, the Foundation created the Ellis Island Immigration Museum as well as theaters, libraries, exhibits, and an oral history recording studio. The museum has helped educate more than 40 million visitors since it opened in 1990, and its American Family Immigration History Center allows online visitors to search archives of passenger records and ships’ manifests.

“You can’t know who you are unless you know where you came from,” said Stephen A. Briganti, Foundation President. “At ellisisland.org, we help you begin your journey of discovery into your past.”

“The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are at the heart of what it means to be an American,” said Callista Gingrich, President of the Gingrich Foundation. “The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation has been working for 30 years to save important pieces of our history for future generations.”

To date, the Foundation has raised over $600 million. Its support continues to come from the private sector and from the generosity of individual Americans.

The Gingrich Foundation is a domestic non-profit corporation founded by Callista and Newt Gingrich to support charitable purposes.

Support the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation today: https://www.ellisisland.org/membership/donation.asp .

News Source: Gingrich Foundation :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

The BMJ articles accuse Dr. Andrew Wakefield of committing scientific fraud in a 1998 Lancet publication – http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673697110960/fulltext – he co-authored that brought global attention to a link many parents and physicians suspect may exist between autism and children who are genetically predisposed to adverse reactions from the Measles/Mumps/Rubella (MMR) vaccine.

The BMJ, Deer, and Godlee alleged that Wakefield fabricated a diagnosis of colitis in most of the 12 children described in The Lancet article – calling Wakefield’s work an “elaborate fraud” intended to create an “MMR scare” – so Wakefield could profit from a patent related to his research.

“Documents recovered from Dr. Wakefield’s files during my investigation at the National Whistleblowers Center (NWC) – www.researchmisconduct.org – reveal that a pathologist associated with the study, Dr. Andrew Anthony, interpreted a number of the children’s biopsies as evidence of colitis,” explained Dr. Lewis. “Altogether, the evidence contained in Wakefield’s files suggested to me that the BMJ’s fraud theory was more tabloid news than science.”

According to documents Lewis filed with Sir John Tooke, Vice-Provost for Health at the University College London (UCL) where The Lancet study was done, BMJ Editor Godlee responded to the Lewis revelations by “cherry-picking the evidence and coming up with a grand conspiracy theory involving ‘institutional research misconduct’. Alleged fraudsters now include University College London (UCL) administrators, the Royal Free Hospital, and all 13 co-authors of the Lancet study.”

UCL President Malcolm Grant notified Lewis that, because his charges were “so serious,” he urged Dr. Lewis to inform Dr. Godlee and Deer “at the earliest opportunity.”

Lewis also reports that Godlee has previously acknowledged the BMJ Group receives funding from the two manufacturers of the MMR vaccine, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline, and has testified in a Parliamentary inquiry that peer-reviewed medical journals are “the marketing arm of the pharmaceutical industry.” Lewis added: “Apparently scientists who question certain government policies and industry practices can be destroyed for a price. If so, this kind of tabloid science poses a genuine threat to public health.”

On January 3, 2012, Dr. Wakefield filed suit against the BMJ and Brian Deer ( http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/01/04/BritMedJ.pdf ). Last September, Columbia University published a major study supporting the link Dr. Wakefield established between autism and enterocolitis ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3174969/ ).

Lewis Investigation Available Online:
Dr. Lewis’ detailed investigation of the BMJ series in question can be downloaded from the following URL provided by his attorneys at Hallman & Wingate, LLC:

http://www.hallmanwingate.com/fullpanel/uploads/files/david-lewis-bmj.pdf .

About Dr. David Lewis:
Dr. David Lewis, a member of the NWC Board of Directors and Director of its Research Misconduct Project, is a former senior-level research microbiologist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He was the only EPA scientist to ever publish first-authored research articles in Lancet and Nature. His research published in Lancet and Nature Medicine on the inadequacy of CDC guidelines to prevent transmission of HIV in dentistry prompted the current heat sterilization standard for dentistry in the mid-1990s. His environmental research published in Nature received the Science Achievement Award by the EPA Administrator in 2000. Editors at Annals of Internal Medicine rated him in the top 10 percent of reviewers in 2010. His accomplishments in medical and environmental research have been widely covered in professional, scientific and popular publications and broadcasts including Nature, Science, Lancet, JAMA, National Geographic, Reader’s Digest, Voice of America, Paul Harvey News, Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, NY Times, Washington Post, London Times, NPR’s All Things Considered, PBS Healthweek, PBS Technopolitics, CBS Evening News, ABC’s Primetime Live, and BBC Panorama.

Dr. Lewis’s direct contact information: (706) 296 3675, LewisDaveL@aol.com .

About the BMJ:
The British Medical Journal is a highly regarded, peer-reviewed scientific journal. BMJ is sent to more than 100,000 doctors internationally, many of whom have stakes in vaccine usage.

Media Contact:
Elizabeth Horn
Horn Productions
650-685-0435
elizabeth@hornproductions.net .

News Source: Dr. David Lewis :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

Colonel William L. Hendricks, USMCR, founded Toys for Tots as a pilot program in 1947. The Marine Corps expanded his project just one year later into a national effort and called upon Marine Corps Reserve units to conduct Toys for Tots campaigns in their local communities.

Six decades later, Toys for Tots continues to thrive. Today, the program reaches all 50 states, and invites communities without a reserve unit to conduct approved Toys for Tots campaigns.

“We are very pleased the Gingrich Foundation has decided to name the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation as their Charity for the Month of December,” said retired Marine Major Bill Grein, Vice President of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. “With this additional exposure we will reach many civic-minded people who share our interest in helping fulfill the Christmas holiday dreams of our nation’s neediest children; children who might otherwise be overlooked this year.”

“Toys for Tots is a wonderful American tradition,” said Callista Gingrich, President of the Gingrich Foundation. “Newt and I are honored to support an organization that helps raise the spirits and hopes of those in need at Christmas.”

To date, Toys for Tots has distributed more than 450 million toys to more than 200 million children — an extraordinary accomplishment.

The Gingrich Foundation is a domestic non-profit corporation founded by Callista and Newt Gingrich to support charitable purposes.

Support the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation today: http://www.toysfortots.org/donate/default.asp .

News Source: Gingrich Foundation :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

“The Old Naval Hospital had fallen into a state of disrepair,” says Jim Hewitt of Conservatory Craftsmen. “Once considered one of the most valuable assets on the Hill, the building had become one of the district’s most endangered historic places.”

As a result, in 2000, a group of concerned Hill residents banded together to save the Old Naval Hospital and restore it to its original splendor. Working with Bell Architects, a restoration plan was adopted that would completely restore the building along with the grounds and carriage house.

Bell Architects had worked with conservatory historian and craftsman, Hewitt, on previous projects and was familiar with his penchant for authenticity. So, he was called in to join forces on the project.

“Jim is a true, old-school conservatory craftsman who understands the history of conservatories and their design periods,” says T. David Bell. “His ability to grasp the design nuances of this restoration was never in doubt.”

Completed in 1866, the Old Naval Hospital was a 50-bed facility designed to serve seamen serving on the Potomac River and its tributaries. Later, it would serve many purposes such as a Hospital Corp Training Center and an Old Soldiers Home. By 1998, the main building stood vacant, while the carriage house was rented as an administrative office.

Redesigning a conservatory for the carriage house at the old naval hospital is a great honor for Hewitt and his crew.

“Using our knowledge of conservatory history and design is what we live for,” explains Hewitt. “While other companies have gone the route of cheap kits and materials, we’ve stayed true to the art of building authentic conservatories and it’s nice to be recognized for that craft.”

Conservatory Craftsmen was given access to archived photos of the original conservatory. From those visuals and evidence of the original structure left behind on the carriage house, they designed an authentic, modern era conservatory that brings back its original charm with the incorporation of modern, practical features such as low E tempered glass for insulation and safety.

“It’s an honor to be called in on a historic project like the Hill Center,” says Hewitt. “Being able to play a small part in the mission of the Hill Center is a dream. This place will be a historical hub to educate and draw people together.”

For more information, visit: http://www.conservatorycraftsmen.com .

- Photo Caption: Restored Conservatory on the Carriage House of The Hill Center.

News Source: Conservatory Craftsmen :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

Adanma Ogumka, World Women Trade Fair Nigeria, Executive Director, announced today that Mallam Mukthar Abubakar Tafawa Balewa will join World Women Trade Fair Nigeria “Building Cultural Economy and Trade” on Multi-Sectorial Job Creation and Wealth Generation Trade Mission to the USA. The goal of the Trade Mission is to identify policy recommendations to help in the development of Nigeria Cultural Economy; opportunities open to Nigeria’s cultural industry under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), institutional collaboration, and best practices in building Cultural Economy, putting gender at the fore front.

“The fact that Mallam Mukthar Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Honorable Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide are joining us on this trip signifies its importance and the administration’s commitment to poverty eradication and wealth creation, putting gender at the fore front,” Adanma said. “At a leadership panel meeting with Mallam Mukthar Abubakar Tafawa Balewa earlier this month, presenting our poverty reduction program, ShowCase Nigeria Initiative, a project that will develop and upgrade artisan skills, brand and build Nigeria’s Cultural Economy, he offered his commitment. This mission will provide immeasurable contacts, resources, and an understanding of the U.S. Market, and I’m confident will lead to greater exports for Nigeria’s handcrafts, which will in turn create new enterprises, jobs and wealth.”

This 10 day mission will begin by visiting Washington D.C. to establish business contacts and engage in networking opportunities with policymakers, government agencies and business professionals and study cultural development in a modern city.

The delegation will travel to North Carolina, touring rural Appalachia and Cherokee Nation, focusing on rural town revitalization, and cultural economic development practices.

“This is a great opportunity for the delegation to take advantage of new export opportunities in the U.S.,” adds Margaret Galabe, Executive Director, World Women Trade Fair U.S.A.

More information: www.worldwomentradefairnigeria.org .

News Source: World Women Trade Fair :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .