WAITT FAMILY FOUNDATION UNDERWRITES FOUNDING FATHERS CAMPAIGN TO MOBILIZE MEN TO TAKE STAND AGAINST VIOLENCE

NEW YORK -- June 1, 2004 -- Gateway Computers founder Ted Waitt joined New York Yankees manager Joe Torre, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, Liz Claiborne CEO Paul Charron, and business leaders at an event in New York to encourage men across the country to become “Founding Fathers” and to pledge their efforts to stop domestic violence. The event was part of a nationwide campaign to mobilize men to take a stand against violence.

The 2004 Founding Fathers Campaign Co-Chairmen, (left to right) Joe Torre, Ted Waitt, Russell Simmons, and Paul Charron show their combined support.

The effort, organized through The Family Violence Prevention Fund, will aim to engage men to teach young males that violence against women is wrong. “ I am so proud the Chair the 2004 Founding Fathers Campaign,“ said Waitt, “because when we stop violence in a home, we help give a young girl or boy the safe, peaceful childhood they deserve. When we teach a teenager that violence is wrong, we prevent him from becoming a bully and batterer who goes through life harming others. And when we empower a young man to speak out against violence, we help him become an example for others and start a chain of positive action that can extend indefinitely.”

Torre, who has previously discussed growing up in an abusive household, said his father, a police officer in New York, "was violent with my mom." " He never hit me, but the scars that a child takes with him into adulthood, they don't go away," Torre said Tuesday. Torre, who has led the Yankees to four World Series titles, added that coaches and managers need to do more to foster healthy attitudes toward women among athletes. " You tell them to be aggressive, go out there and beat somebody up, go out there and win a ballgame, and unfortunately when they go out on a date that night they don't take `No' for an answer," he said.

The Waitt Family Foundation underwrites the “Founding Fathers” campaign along with support from Liz Claiborne, Inc, HomeGoods, and The Wireless Foundation.

Men line up to sign the campaign pledge. Ted Waitt, (left) Chairman of the 2004 campaign is one of the first to sign.