NEW YORK, May 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CBS Corporation
will remember fallen military and their families with a special
Memorial Day CBS Cares public service
announcement airing throughout the holiday weekend beginning
Friday, May 26 through Monday, May 29. The PSA, featuring Steve
Kroft, CBS correspondent for 60 MINUTES and Vietnam War
veteran, encourages viewers to honor the fallen and help their
families cope with grief by volunteering or donating to Tragedy
Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and is scheduled to air on
CBS THIS MORNING, THE TALK and THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN
COLBERT on Friday, May 26.
The PSA will also air during FACE THE NATION on Sunday, May 28 and in primetime and CBS
Sports programming during Memorial
Day weekend. In addition, the PSA will be available online
on select CBS websites and be distributed to local stations across
the country.
"We are proud of our partnership with TAPS and of our Company's
continued internal and external support of all those who serve or
have served in the military," said Tony
Ambrosio, Senior Executive Vice President, Chief
Administrative Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer, CBS
Corporation. "We hope this special CBS Cares PSA increases
awareness and furthers the mission of TAPS in providing help and
resources to those grieving the death of a loved one who served in
our armed forces."
In addition to the Network's on-air support of TAPS, CBS
employees have the opportunity to volunteer at the Command
Center for one day during Fleet Week in New York
City, Wednesday, May 24 through Tuesday, May 30. This year, an estimated 13
ships will arrive with over 5,000 service members disembarking in
New York City. CBS employees will
be greeting and thanking sailors, Marines and coast guardsmen as
they dock in New York.
CBS will also be distributing 4,000 poppy seed cards to
employees, encouraging them to plant them to pay homage to fallen
service members. Employees will be encouraged to share photos
of themselves planting their seeds as well as photos of their
poppies in full bloom as a continuation of the Company's
Memorial Day recognition.
"Memorial Day offers us an
opportunity to recognize those who made the ultimate sacrifice as
well as a chance to reflect on what we as a CBS family can continue
to do to support the military and their families," said
Richard M. Jones, Executive Vice
President and Chief Veteran Officer, CBS Corporation. "We are
thankful to Vietnam War veteran Steve
Kroft and the CBS team for shining the light on TAPS through
this PSA – and to those employees who will be volunteering this
holiday weekend."
"On behalf of the thousands of families who have lost loved ones
during military service, TAPS is grateful for the awareness CBS is
raising about the true meaning of Memorial
Day," said TAPS founder and president Bonnie Carroll. "The vital services TAPS
provides to the families of America's fallen heroes are truly life
changing, and would be impossible to provide without the generous
support of the American people."
To mark Memorial Day, TAPS will
welcome more than 2,000 participants to Washington, D.C. over the weekend as part of
its 23rd Annual National Military Survivor Seminar and Good Grief
Camp. The seminar, which offers a Good Grief Camp for
children and workshops for adults on coping with traumatic grief,
provides many opportunities for surviving family members to
remember the life and legacy of their fallen loved ones, including
those killed in action, those who died of illness and suicide and
those who died as a result of accidents or other circumstances. At
the TAPS Good Grief Camp, more than 500 children who have lost a
loved one as a result of military service will learn coping
strategies and meet other children grieving a similar loss. During
the camp, the surviving children are paired one-on-one with
TAPS-trained volunteer military mentors who are recent veterans, on
active duty or in the National Guard or reserve forces.
About CBS Cares:
At the heart of CBS' public service
commitment is the multiple award-winning CBS Cares campaign, which
consists of PSAs created by CBS, usually featuring talent from a
wide array of CBS Television Network programming. These PSAs have
addressed numerous issues, none more important than those
supporting our troops and their families. Among these projects in
support of our military are PSAs for Memorial Day; a Veterans
Day PSA featuring a Medal of Honor Recipient; an in-game
Super Bowl PSA honoring fallen and wounded veterans; a CBS Cares
Radio program on post traumatic/combat stress, hosted by
Steve Kroft and featuring Veterans
and an expert; and PSAs in support of care packages for troops
deployed overseas.
About TAPS:
The Tragedy Assistance Program for
Survivors (TAPS) is the national organization providing
compassionate care for the families of America's fallen military
heroes and has offered support to more than 70,000 surviving family
members of our fallen military and their caregivers since 1994.
TAPS provides peer-based emotional support, grief and trauma
resources, grief seminars and retreats for adults, Good Grief Camps
for children, case work assistance, connections to community-based
care, online and in-person support groups and a 24/7 resource
and information helpline for all who have been affected by a death
in the Armed Forces. Services are provided free of charge. For more
information go to www.taps.org or call the toll-free TAPS
resource and information helpline at 1.800.959.TAPS (8277).
For more information on CBS Cares, please click here.
To visit CBS Cares on Facebook, click here.
To visit CBS Cares on Twitter, click here.
For more information and to donate to TAPS, please
click here.
To visit TAPS on Facebook, click here.
To visit TAPS on Twitter, click here.
To visit TAPS' YouTube page, click here.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cbs-remembers-fallen-military-and-their-families-with-special-memorial-day-psa-campaign-in-partnership-with-taps-300463254.html
SOURCE CBS Corporation