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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 024-11
January 21, 2011

MAYOR BLOOMBERG AND PITTSBURGH MAYOR RAVENSTAHL MAKE VOLUNTEER SERVICE BASED WAGER ON JETS VS. STEELERS AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Mayors Asked Fans for Their Wager Ideas on Twitter and Facebook

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl announced a wager on the AFC Championship game between the New York Jets and the Pittsburgh Steelers: The losing mayor will, while wearing the jersey of the winning team, take part in a volunteer service project to assemble care packages to be sent to members of the armed services who are from the winning city and recently have returned home. Returning service members and their families often need temporary assistance to help them adjust in their transition home. The care packages will include items that can help ease the transition, such as gift cards for gasoline or groceries. In addition to the service component, if the Steelers win, Mayor Bloomberg will hang a Steelers “Terrible Towel” on a New York City landmark and if the Jets win, Mayor Ravenstahl will place a Jets Fireman hat on a Pittsburgh landmark – with either act filmed and posted on YouTube. Regardless of the outcome of the game, each mayor will participate in a service project to send care packages to returning troops. Mayor Bloomberg asked fans to submit suggestions by tweeting @NYCMayorsOffice using the hashtag #JetsBet and Mayor Ravenstahl asked fans to submit suggestions through the City of Pittsburgh Facebook page at www.facebook.com/city.of.pittsburgh and to its Twitter page at @CityPGH. The final wager terms were a combination of various suggestions submitted.

“Peyton, down. Brady, down. Big Ben is next. I have a shiny, new number six Jets jersey picked out and ready for Mayor Ravenstahl,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Regardless of the outcome of the game, this is a great opportunity to give back and tell some of the men and women in uniform ‘thanks for taking care of us’.”

“After this game, the only Jet that will be going to Dallas is the one carrying the Steelers,” said Mayor Ravenstahl. “I’m glad that no matter which team prevails, we can raise awareness for our dedicated troops who could use our help in easing their transition home.”

Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Ravenstahl are founding members of Cities of Service, a bipartisan coalition of mayors from across the country dedicated to engaging more Americans in community service and harnessing the power of volunteers as a serious strategy to address local challenges. The coalition began with 17 founding mayors in September of 2009 and has grown to more than 100 mayors representing 49 million Americans.







MEDIA CONTACT:


Stu Loeser / Marc La Vorgna (Mayor Bloomberg)   (212) 788-2958

Joanna Doven (Mayor Ravenstahl)   (412) 255-2694



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