NewYorkSaysThankYou.org             

Contact:                

Jeff Parness                                                         Diana Wong                                         Elizabeth” Bucky” Blottin

NewYorkSaysThankYou.org                             Connors Communications                               District 4-L6 Lions Club International

917-806-8061                                                      212-798-1406                                      619-440-4884

Jeff@NewYorkSaysThankYou.org Diana@connors.com Bucky4L6Lion@aol.com

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MEDIA ALERT

New Yorkers Team Up with Lions Clubs International Foundation to Accelerate Relief Efforts for California Wildfire Victims

NewYorkSaysThankYou.org and Lions Clubs International Foundation establish Web site link to speed online donations to Harbison Canyon and other Southern California towns devastated by recent wildfires

DECEMBER 5, 2003 -- NEW YORK CITY and SAN DIEGO, CA – In a continuing and growing effort to reach out cross-country and accelerate relief to California wildfire victims, NewYorkSaysThankYou.org today announced that it has created a Web site link to Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) to enable instant online donations to help the families devastated by the recent wildfires. The link, accessible at www.NewYorkSaysThankYou.org, connects people to an online donation form of LCIF, the grant-making arm of Lions Clubs International.  (Donors need to specify that the donation is for victims of the wildfires in California.)  Donations will be used to help meet long-term community needs. The Lions have been very active in reaching out to meet the basic human needs of the families in Harbison Canyon and other towns in Southern California affected by the recent fires.

“Through one click on the Internet, people can now make a direct and instant impact in helping these families most affected by the fires to accelerate the process of rebuilding their lives and their communities,“ stated Jeff Parness, founder of NewYorkSaysThankYou.org. “We are pleased to be working with the Lions who have a stellar record of efficiently distributing assistance to people in need and who have demonstrated their commitment on the ground to helping the people of Harbison Canyon and other nearby towns rebuild as quickly as possible.”

The NewYorkSaysThankYou.org organization was founded 4 weeks ago by Parness in response to his 5-year-old son Evan Parness wanting to send some of his old toys to children in California who lost their homes in the wildfires. The effort immediately grew into a cross-country drive which garnered national media attention and a follow up trip the following week to outfit a recreation room being established for the 300 children in Harbison Canyon, a community east of San Diego that lost 75 percent of their homes. The second trip was supported by the Rodeph Sholom School, Lions clubs, and JetBlue Airways.

"We are continuing to receive a tremendous outpouring of interest and support from individuals and institutions in New York and across America who want to be part of the NewYorkSaysThankYou.org effort to reach out to our neighbors in need in California,” Parness concluded. “What started out as a simple gesture by a 5-year-old child to help another child has become a movement and a testament that New Yorkers and Americans have not forgotten the spirit of 9/11 and are prepared to take direct action to help our neighbors in need wherever they may live.”

Many Lions and Lions clubs in California have provided food and clothing to families affected by the fires.  Lions Clubs International Foundation has donated $60,000 to support Lions relief activities.

About the Lions 

Since 1917, Lions clubs have served the needs of their communities. From local projects such as cleaning up an area park to far-reaching projects such as bringing sight to the world's blind, the nearly 1.4 million Lions in 46,000 clubs in 192 countries and geographical areas answer the needs that challenge our global community. Lions Clubs International Foundation has approved more than $331 million in grants to prevent blindness and restore vision, aid victims of disaster, provide vocational training for the disabled and give youth opportunities for success.

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MEDIA ALERT:

JEFF PARNESS, FOUNDER OF NEWYORKSAYSTHANKYOU.ORG AND HIS 5 YEAR OLD SON, EVAN, WILL BE INTERVIEWED ON CNN LIVE TODAY AT APPROXIMATELY 10:30AM (EST) ALONG WITH ONE OF THE FAMILIES IN HARBISON CANYON, CALIFORNIA AFFECTED BY THE RECENT FIRES