NewYorkSaysThankYou.org Press Release 1

Contact: 

Jeff Parness (New York City) Diana Wong (New York City) Mark Tsuchiy (San Diego)

NewYorkSaysThankYou.org Connors Communications Father Joe’s Villages/St. Vincent de Paul

917-806-8061 212-798-1406 619-446-2726

Jeff@NewYorkSaysThankYou.org Diana@connors.com Mtsuchiy@neighbor.org

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORKERS SUPPORT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FIRE VICTIMS WITH CROSS-COUNTRY RELIEF DRIVE

Truck Filled with Clothes, Toys and Love Departs Wednesday,

November 5 at 9AM from 275 West 96th Street, NYC

NOVEMBER 4, 2003 – MANHATTAN, NY — NewYorkSaysThankYou.org (www.newyorksaysthankyou.org) founding members Jeff Parness, Stavros Michailidis, and Marius Calin, with help from Kevin Potente, will drive cross-country Wednesday morning to deliver clothes, children’s toys, and other relief items to fire victims in Southern California now being aided by Father Joe's Villages/St. Vincent de Paul in San Diego (www.svdpv.org).

The NewYorkSaysThankYou.org organization was founded over the weekend by Jeff Parness in response to 5-year-old Evan Parness wanting to send some of his old toys to his Aunt Molly in San Diego so she could deliver them to a family shelter he saw on CNN on Saturday night – people who had lost everything in the recent wildfires.

A drop-off location has been set up at Parness’ building located at 275 West 96th Street. Many residents of this large building have been moved to donate; fourteen wardrobe cartons are already filled with toys and clothes, a large truck has been rented for the drive and a local restaurant has donated $1,000 to help defray expenses. Items in particular need include NEW toiletries, batteries, flashlights, cleaning materials, bedding, first aid kits, sheets and towels.

“3300 homes were destroyed and 3300 families just lost everything,” says Parness. “And while this effort might make just a small dent in helping some people to replace the ‘things’ they lost, I think we as New Yorkers have a greater message to send post 9/11, which is simply "Thank You." Thanks for all the help you gave us, all your support, all your love. Here is a little of that back.”

Additional stops along the way include West Virginia, Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before arriving into Southern California. The goal during each stop is to promote the journey and its meaning to gain additional donations.

“We are going to put a large ‘New York Says Thank You’ banner on the truck and at every stop along the way, we will be looking for additional support,” says Parness. “I have a $1 bet with Kevin that by the time we reach San Diego, we’ll have 15-20 trucks following along. I believe America will respond just like my 5 year old son has.”

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FOR MORE INFORMATION AND PERIODIC UPDATES, PLEASE REFER TO www.newyorksaysthankyou.org