First Tweetmyride Global Campaign To Raise $1 Million For Charity Via Twitter

    VANCOUVER, July 30 /CNW/ - tweetmyride is a Twitter-driven global charity
campaign, created to raise money for 10 charities around the world in the lead
up to Vancouver-based Australian, Gavin Romanis, participating in the
international mountain bike race, La Ruta de los Conquistadores in Costa Rica
from November 11-14, 2009 (www.adventurerace.com) - known as one of the
toughest on the planet.
    Inspired by Ashton Kutcher and CNN's challenge to gain 1 million
followers on Twitter, and fuelled by the vibrant biking community of
Vancouver, Canada, the basis behind the tweetmyride global campaign is to
encourage global giving to a variety of causes.
    Co-founders Leoni Milano and Gavin Romanis integrated these ideas to
create a campaign with global reach, utilizing Twitter to help achieve their
goal to raise $1 million over the 4-month period that runs from July 30 -
November 30, 2009.
    "When I realised how gruelling La Ruta de los Conquistadores was going to
be, I knew that I would need more than my own determination to get me through
it - so the idea of doing it to help charities across the world seemed like
the ideal inspiration" says Gavin Romanis, who has no prior experience in
mountain bike racing, but was seduced by the challenge's combination of travel
and outdoor adventure.
    Milano and Romanis wanted to create something that would have a global
impact - hence the campaign's tagline: "Twitter has no boundaries - neither
should we". Tweetmyride will demonstrate the power of social networking and
show that contributions - no matter how small - all help to build something
incredibly worthwhile.
    The participating charities (including twitter names) being supported in
the campaign are:1.   charity: water, USA - www.twitter.com/charitywater
    2.   First United Church, Canada - www.twitter.com/fucm
    3.   Fred Hollows Foundation, Australia - www.twitter.com/FredHollows
    4.   Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders, Canada -
         www.twitter.com/MSF_canada
    5.   National Breast Cancer Foundation, Australia -
         www.twitter.com/NBCFAus
    6.   Oxfam Canada, Canada - www.twitter.com/oxfamcanada
    7.   Starlight Children's Foundation, Australia -
         www.twitter.com/Starlight_star
    8.   Team Fox for The Michael J. Fox Foundation, USA -
         www.twitter.com/TEAMFOX
    9.   The CREAR Association, Costa Rica - www.twitter.com/CostaRicaCREAR
    10.  World Vision, UK - www.twitter.com/WVUKnews"There are literally thousands of charities out there doing incredible
work, and we're thrilled to have these carefully chosen charities on board.
For some, this will be their first foray into experimenting with social
networking and they have all embraced this unique style of fundraising and
awareness with keen enthusiasm," says co-founder Le oni Milano.
    Twitter allows each of the charities the opportunity to connect and
communicate on a more tangible level with their followers, donors and
supporters, which in turn helps develop relationships for a deeper impact. It
gives the charities a voice that helps people connect on a personal level,
rather than just being a donor.
    The campaign's vision is to also encourage others to hold their own
'tweetmyride' biking events around the world and have family and friends
donate (towards their rides) to the participating charities, which they can
then tweet about.
    Donors get to go online to the tweetmyride website and choose which
charity they wish to support from those participating in the campaign. All
donations will go directly to each charity. www.tweetmyride.com /
www.twitter.com/tweetmyride

For further information: Nora Weber, Media Relations, Terracom
Communications, [e-mail], [phone]; Leoni Milano,
Co-founder, tweetmyride, [e-mail], [phone]