Fifteen Inspirational Moms Take the Spotlight in Nationwide Search for America's Favorite Mom

Fifteen Inspirational Moms Take the Spotlight in Nationwide Search for America's Favorite Mom

LOS ANGELES, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Teleflora, the world's leading floral wire service, and NBC today revealed the 15 semi-finalists in the nationwide search for America's Favorite Mom. The inspirational stories of the three top moms in each of the five categories -- military moms, working moms, single moms, "Non-mom" moms and "Chairman of Everything" moms -- will be featured on NBC's "Today" show May 5 through May 9 during the 9 o'clock hour. Each day, America will vote on who will continue into the final round. The winning mom will be crowned during the primetime television special, "Teleflora presents America's Favorite Mom," airing on Mother's Day Sunday, May 11 at 7 p.m. EDT.

Teleflora's 15 "America's Favorite Mom" semi-finalists include:

Military Moms
-- Melinda Gintilas (Fountain, CO): Gintilas is a soldier who survived
two trips to Iraq, a tumor in her breast and long intervals and
distances from her husband and three children
-- Patti Patton-Bader (Pasadena, CA): Patton-Bader is a mother who founded
Soldiers Angels Network, an organization that sends care packages to
over 200,000 troops overseas
-- Rosanna Vasquez-Brown (Harker Heights, TX): Vasquez-Brown's duties to
her family include caring for her daughter and husband; her duties to
her country will start soon, as she prepares for work as a physician
assistant in Iraq

Working Moms
-- Lisa Druxman (San Marcos, CA): With two children in tote, Druxman
started "Stroller Strides" a small business catering to mom specific
exercises
-- Patricia Griffith (Pittsburg, CA): Griffith's entrepreneurial spirit
led her to open the successful Southern Oven Baking Company while also
raising two children
-- Stacy Horn Koch (New Orleans, LA): The head of a household of two boys,
Koch also runs a center for at-risk youth and heads a project to
restore a community devastated by Hurricane Katrina

Single Moms
-- Lena Ledford (Atlanta, GA): A mother of five, Ledford never lets
anything stop her which is why she's also a part-time vocal, basketball
and cheerleading coach as well as a teacher, counselor and cook
-- Betty Yerks (Denville, NJ): If there was a popularity contest in
Denville, NJ, Yerks would win it. As an active leader for school,
community and church volunteer activities, Yerks also raised two
daughters while founding BirthRight, an organization that assists
pregnant teenagers
-- Shawna Ray (Mount Pleasant, SC): Ray is a "teacher" to her own daughter
and a "teacher" to others through a book she wrote about educating kids
on diversity

"Non-mom" Moms
-- Bernice Burch (Sanford, FL): From taking care of her siblings when she
was younger to raising four children and now a large extended family,
Burch will always be known as the "neighborhood" mom
-- Nora Leon (Casper, WY): Leon is a "mom to many," as she runs an
orphanage in Haiti and finds sick children medical attention and even
homes with families in the United States
-- Jennifer Keller (Home, KS): Keller has seven children, six of which
were adopted newborns, who were exposed to methamphetamines. She also
is an activist working to make the act of abusing controlled substances
during a pregnancy illegal in Kansas

"Chairman of Everything" Moms
-- Gwendolyn Beauchamp (Lancaster, TX): A stay-at-home mother of five,
Beauchamp has supported her family through hard times despite being
diagnosed with Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC)
-- Lisa Couture (Wesley Chapel, FL): Although she is blind, Couture
manages to run the household and even achieve her MBA while caring for
her three children
-- Courtnee Stevenson (Bremerton, WA): A mother of six including a set of
quintuplets, Stevenson is a mom who clearly can juggle it all

The 15 semi-finalists were selected from more than 15,000 online nominations collected at AmericasFavoriteMom.com. A panel of experts that included Stacy Morrison, editor-in-chief of Redbook Magazine, Sally Lee, editor-in-chief of Parents Magazine, and Sabrina Weill, Editor-in-Chief of Momlogic.com, helped to narrow the pool. Semi-finalists were notified when a local Teleflora florist personally delivered the specially-designed America's Favorite Mom bouquet, the true centerpiece of Teleflora's America's Favorite Mom search, to each of their homes.

"We were just in awe of the thousands of amazing moms nominated on AmericasFavoriteMom.com -- there were so many inspirational and heartfelt submissions," said Lynda Resnick, chairman, Teleflora. "Now it's time for America to decide who among these incredible mothers should be crowned 'America's Favorite Mom'."

"At REDBOOK we know there is no one way to be a mom, since being a mom is just an expression of who you are as a woman," said Stacy Morrison, editor-in-chief, Redbook Magazine. "The amazing array of nominees for America's Favorite Mom demonstrates this in the most inspiring way. From fitness mom to working mom to military mom, these women remind us that the best way to have a life you love is to be exactly who you are."

"This is one inspiring group of moms," said Sally Lee, editor-in-chief, Parents Magazine. "They have such different life experiences, but they're all truly selfless in their commitment to raising happy, healthy children. They've made sacrifices and weathered challenges, but each one of these moms has an amazing attitude. They all deserve the title of 'America's Favorite Mom'!"

Momlogic.com editor-in-chief Sabrina Weill says, "What strikes me most about these amazing moms is not just one particular shining moment, but the everyday acts of motherhood, big and small, that impact their families and the children around them in such a powerful way. It's a bit of 'momlogic' actually: You don't have to be 'SuperMom' to be a truly heroic mother."

Viewers can tune-in to the "Today" show, the week of May 5 to learn more about these semi-finalists and vote for their favorite mom each day on http://www.nbc.com/.

A different category will be highlighted every day: military moms, Monday, May 5; working moms, Tuesday, May 6; single moms, Wednesday, May 7; "non-mom" moms, Thursday, May 8; and "chairman of everything" moms, Friday, May 9. Donny and Marie Osmond will appear on the May 5 show to kick-off the competition.

The five mothers with the greatest percentage of votes will take part in "Teleflora presents America's Favorite Mom," an NBC prime-time television event hosted by Donny and Marie Osmond. The one-hour show will feature an exclusive duet by the celebrity siblings and a special performance by Sony/Epic artists The D.E.Y. performing their new single "She Said," a heartfelt ode to mothers. Editor-in-Chief of Redbook Magazine Stacy Morrison, who was a print sponsor of the nationwide search, will also make a guest appearance in the show.

The program will include a special tribute to 100 year old Opal Trundle, who was born on the first Mother's Day, May 11, 1908. Opal raised six children during the great depression and has 96 grandchildren. In addition, there will be special cameo appearances by Christina Aguilera, Tony Hawk, Alicia Keys, Hulk Hogan, Naomi Judd, Amy Poehler and more throughout the broadcast. At the end of the special, the Osmonds will crown one lucky winner, "America's Favorite Mom."

Teleflora will present the grand prize winner with $250,000, an America's Favorite Mom diamond encrusted pendant and a year's worth of Teleflora flower arrangements. The winning mom will also receive a REDBOOK "Love Your Life" all-expense paid trip to New York City, including a beauty makeover and spa treatment, courtesy of Redbook Magazine, a family vacation package to St. Lucia, courtesy of Coconut Bay and all-new General Electric kitchen and laundry appliances. Teleflora will present the four runners-up with $25,000, a gold pendant, a year's worth of Teleflora flower arrangements and a General Electric washer and dryer.

"Moms all over can relate to the hard work and sacrifices that go into raising a family, and we want to tell their stories through this television tribute to moms," said Doug Vaughan, senior vice president, special programs and alternative development, NBC Entertainment. "Through uplifting stories and great performances, this special is bound to tug at your heart strings."

Executive producers of the primetime special include Lynda Resnick, chairman, Teleflora, Al Berman, president, Berman Productions and Marc Koops, managing director, Reveille.

About America's Favorite Mom

In honor of the 100th Anniversary of Mother's Day, Teleflora invited consumers to nominate their inspirational moms on http://www.americasfavoritemom.com/ for the title of "America's Favorite Mom." From January to April 25, children and adults alike adoringly expressed how much they loved their mom online. Log on to the web site to view all the nominations. The site also features more information about the program, including the official rules.

About Teleflora

Teleflora is the world's leading floral service offering the best choice in floral arrangements and convenient local delivery. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Teleflora has over 20,000 member florists throughout the U.S. and Canada, with an additional 20,000 affiliated florists outside North America. Teleflora offers industry-leading floral arrangements and gifts, technology, marketing and education services. Through its extensive member florists' network, Web sites including http://www.teleflora.com/ and http://www.findaflorist.com/, and its toll-free line 1-800-TELEFLORA, the company offers consumers fast, convenient and high-quality flowers and keepsake products.

About NBC

NBC Entertainment develops and schedules programming for the network's primetime, late-night, and daytime schedules. NBC's quality programs and balanced lineup have earned the network critical acclaim, ratings success, particularly among young, upscale viewers, and numerous awards, including more Emmy Awards than any network in television history.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Teleflora

CONTACT: Rob Six of Teleflora, +1-310-966-3517, rsix@teleflora.com; or
Melissa Trivino, +1-323-202-1894, melissa.trivino@edelman.com or Grace Chang,
+1-323-202-1422, grace.chang@edelman.com, both of Edelman, for Teleflora

Web site:

http://www.teleflora.com/
http://www.findaflorist.com/

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