NewYorkSaysThankYou.org                    Press Release 3

Contact:                 Jeff Parness                                                         Diana Wong

NewYorkSaysThankYou.org                             Connors Communications

                                917-806-8061                                                      212-798-1406

Jeff@NewYorkSaysThankYou.org Diana@connors.com

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Yorkers Returning on Second Mission to Help California Wildfire Victims in San Diego County

Sister Community Established with 300 Kids of Harbison Canyon

Rodeph Sholom School, Lions Club International, JetBlue Airways Offer Support

NOVEMBER 19, 2003 (5:00AM EST)-- NEW YORK CITY -- Just one week after returning from their successful cross-country drive to provide relief supplies and emotional support for the California wildfire victims, NewYorkSaysThankYou.Org founding members Jeff Parness and Stavros Michailidis are returning to San Diego having escalated the mission and established a "sister community" program to provide focused support for the residents of Harbison Canyon, one of the areas most devastated by the recent wildfires. They depart New York JFK Wednesday November 19 at 8:00AM on JetBlue flight #181 and arrive in San Diego at 11:15AM Pacific Time.

"We received thousands of e-mails of support and the media told our story nationally which further inspired the California fire victims that New Yorkers and Americans across the country truly care about their neighbors in time of need," stated Parness. "When I met with the residents of Harbison Canyon, I asked them what else we can do to help. Their response was unanimous: 'Help us to keep our kids distracted from their new reality and from playing in the debris of our burned out community'."

Of 388 homes in Harbison Canyon, 287 burned and only 101 remain standing. The residents who have formed an impromptu town council to deal with the tragedy and coordinate relief efforts are concerned that their children are entering a downward psychological spiral and are hoping to establish a recreation lounge in one of the remaining park buildings in the center of town.

Sister Community Established with Harbison Canyon

Upon his return from the original trip last week, Parness immediately contacted the Rodeph Sholom School where his 5-year-old son Evan, the inspiration for the mission, attends pre-Kindergarten. The administration and staff immediately agreed to help the 300 kids in Harbison and over the weekend, nearly 70 Rodeph Sholom Middle School students, faculty and staff collected even more supplies to outfit the recreation lounge being established in Harbison Canyon. Of particular focus were items to help keep the Harbison kids distracted in a group and interactive environment including a video library, interactive/educational board games, jewelry making and crafts supplies, and table-top indoor games.

Other Institutional and Technology Support Offered

In addition to Evan's school, the 2-week-old NewYorkSaysThankYou.org organization has received support from a number of Lions Club International members including the past District Governor for San Diego and Imperial County, Elizabeth "Bucky" Blottin. A local Teamsters president in New York even offered a free truck for the next journey to shuttle supplies. In addition, Parness has organized a team of technology developers in New York and California to help Harbison Canyon resident Rick Orozco explore developing a real-time web-based donations management system to track inventory and facilitate future donations to Harbison Canyon residents via the Internet.

"This amazing journey and mission has demonstrated that New Yorkers and Americans have not forgotten the spirit of giving and support following the 9/11 tragedy. If given the chance, everyone wants to help make an impact" Parness concluded. "Upon my return from this trip I hope to educate even more New Yorkers how to replicate this model and I intend to reach out to the experts who managed the 9/11 crisis in New York to see if we can leverage that knowledge base to further impact the people in California affected by this widespread, distributed, and isolated catastrophe."

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