Sample Letter for Public Service Announcement

Copy the content of this page (from line to line) and paste in your word processor with margins of 1/2".  Alter the items in brackets ( [ ] ).

Follow the instructions on the previous page to submit to area media with the Public Service Announcement.

Sample letter to accompany PSA to media:

Sample letter to accompany PSA to media:

[Date]

[Name]

[Title]

[Media Outlet]

[Address]

[City, State Zip]

Dear [Name]:

Obesity in America is at epidemic proportions. Losing weight is difficult for many, but especially for those with a very serious medical condition called Prader-Willi syndrome (pronounced Prä΄-dər Wĭl΄-ē).

PWS is a complex genetic disorder, the most common known genetic cause of life-threatening obesity, which causes excessive hunger and rapid weight gain. However, PWS is not widely known, even by medical professionals. Some estimates indicate that up to 75% of individuals who have PWS don’t know it. That is why we need your help to alert the public about PWS with a public service announcement.

Enclosed please find a PSA submitted for your consideration. Although we’d desire that the PSA be run all year, I am sending this to you now because May is Prader-Willi Syndrome Awareness Month, a public education initiative launched by the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association (USA), the only national membership organization for children and adults with PWS and their families in the United States and a 501(c)3 charity as designated by the IRS.

PWSA (USA) is concerned about the many people living unknowingly with PWS who are fighting daily to lose weight and control their hunger. Unfortunately, it is not something they can control. PWS causes an involuntary and irrepressible ‘need’ to eat. Without strict external regulations to monitor their environments, persons with PWS might literally eat themselves to death.

Compounding the problem is a dysfunction in the metabolic system, whereby a regular caloric diet could cause a person with PWS to become severely obese. Without intervention, these individuals will never be able to manage their weight, and will die at an early age. Unfortunately, there is no cure for the constant hunger they feel (yet), but there is treatment.

One in 12,000-15,000 births result in a person born with PWS. PWS can occur in both genders and all ethnicities. It is NOT restricted to any particular population, and but for a few exceptions, it is NOT an inherited condition.

Other common characteristics of the syndrome include low muscle tone, delayed milestones such as speech and motor skills, behavior issues, cognitive impairments, and other varied issues that we are just beginning to understand.

We urge you to run the enclosed PSA so that citizens of our community learn about this syndrome and lives can be saved. I will call you shortly to discuss this initiative, or you may call me at [(###) ###-####]. To learn more about PWS, please call PWSA (USA) at (800) 926-4797 or visit their Web site at www.pwsausa.org. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

[Name]

[optional: parent to a child with PWS/board member of PWSA (USA)/concerned medical professional/etc.]

Encl.

update: 02/09/2012