MARDY FISH FOUNDATION and ABC’s EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION PARTNER TO FIND FAMILY FROM VERO BEACH

Vero Beach, Florida – October 5, 2011
The Mardy Fish Foundation and ABC TV Network team up to find a deserving family in Vero Beach, Florida whose home desperately needs to be rebuilt. Just by chance, ABC’s EM:HE Casting Producer, Ashton Ramsey, and Mardy Fish Foundation’s leadership team, Tom and Sally Fish and Patrick Toole sat together at a Fundraiser in Austin, Texas two weeks ago. An initial conversation about Vero Beach, Florida prompted Ashton Ramsey to ask about the possibility of filming Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in Indian River County.

A week later, The Mardy Fish Foundation and ABC Executives met with Indian River County School District’s Superintendent, Dr. Fran Adams and school principals to discuss the process and goals of finding a deserving family.

Ashton Ramsey stated, “We conducted our research and we knew right away Vero Beach was a magical place we could support and invest in a family. The entire Fish family, including Mardy Fish, #1 Ranked US Men’s Tennis Player and Vero Beach resident, were so passionate about the schools, children and teachers in Vero Beach.”

Vero Beach has just a short window of time to identify a family. So, an entire grass roots outreach campaign through the Indian River County School District and personal phone calls and emails to all the Non-Profits and Foundations in Vero Beach has been initiated.

“This opportunity is really about supporting and giving back to our community. The Mardy Fish Foundation is fortunate to work with so many incredible teachers, children, parents, and administration in Indian River County, that we knew we had to peruse this partnership with ABC,” says Tom Fish, Chairman of Board of The Mardy Fish Foundation.

WHAT: Do you know a family whose home deserves an Extreme Makeover? If so, the producers from ABC’s EXTREME MAKEOVER: Home Edition want to hear from you.

WHEN: ABC’s and Mardy Fish Foundation need to find a family by October 12, 2011.
WHO: Contact and Submit Nominations to Ashton Ramsey: ashton@emhe.tv
HOW: Nominations may be submitted by a family or by a member of the community. Each nomination must include the names and ages of every member of the household along with a description of the major challenges with the home, and a short description of the family story. All nomination must include a contact phone number.

ABOUT ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition:
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which has won back-to-back Emmy Awards as Best Reality Program, is in its 8th season on ABC. The program is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. Brady Connell and George Verschoor are the executive producers; and David Goldberg is the president of Endemol USA. For more information please visit http://abc.go.com/shows/extreme-makeover-home-edition. # # #

LOCAL CONTACT:
Patrick W. Toole, Executive Director Mardy Fish Foundation
Phone: 772-321-6979; Email: Patrick@toolegroup.com;
Facebook: www.facebook.com/patrick.toole

NATIONAL CONTACT:
Ashton Ramsey, Senior Casting Producer
5200 Landershim Blvd. 5th Floor
North Hollywood, CA 91601
Phone: 323-828-3657; Email: ashton@emhe.tv

The Mardy Fish Foundation mission is to provide children access to after school exercise, nutritional and enrichment programs in a safe environment to prepare them for healthy, productive and successful lives so they can achieve their dreams. Since its establishment in 2006, the Mardy Fish Foundation has opened after school programs in 13 elementary schools benefiting more than 2,000 students in Indian River County. For more information please visit http://www.mardyfishfoundation.org.

Mardy Fish Foundation
9190 Springtime Drive
Vero Beach, FL 32963
Patrick W. Toole, Executive Director Mardy Fish Foundation
Phone: 772-321-6979; Email: Patrick@toolegroup.com;
Facebook: www.facebook.com/patrick.toole

This release was published on openPR.