The O'Connor Law Firm

Winter Aid to Evacuees of Hurricane Rita

Cameron, LA – November 29, 2005 – Matt O’Connor, Neighbors4Neighbors, a non-profit organization helping neighbors across the country connect with the power of giving will be holding a Tent City Fund Raiser to raise hearts, cash and coats for the survivors of Rita.

Tent City Fund Raiser

Camping for Cameron, Louisiana

December 8, 2005 10:00 a.m. to December 10^th, 2005 10:00 p.m.

Many people may be fatigued by the request for relief efforts and charitable giving, however, our neighbors to the South and their children need us now, possibly more than before. Why? Because the cold weather is moving in, and soon, temperatures in Cameron Louisiana will dip down as low as 23 degrees Fahrenheit, bringing with it, cold rain and wind.

We must renew our efforts to spread hope. If your neighborhood was destroyed and your neighbors are without the warm clothes required to protect against the cold of winter, what would you do? Our neighbors in Cameron, Louisiana need our help desperately, as everything they owned was completely washed away by Hurricane Rita in October, including all of their clothing.

We have no knowledge of other charitable organizations that are assisting our displaced neighbors of Cameron in this way. We ask for your continued support of this relief effort. We are beginning our third wave of donated money and items that now focuses on the immediate need, such as winter coats, sweaters, socks, hats, scarves, gloves, shoes, and blankets and/or the money to buy these things. Our hope is to get these items collected and shipped to Louisiana by mid-December.

In an effort to quickly raise awareness of this timely need, Neighbors4Neighbors will pitch a “Tent City”, where volunteers will camp outside for 48 hours, in an effort to raise money and collect needed warmth items to give to our neighbors in Cameron.

This Tent City Fund Raiser will be located in the grass at Qdoba’s Restaurant, at 39^th St. and State Line Rd., beginning on December 8, at 10:00 a.m. Volunteers will camp, collect money, and pack collected items until December 10, at 10:00 p.m.

Matt O’Connor, Chair of Neighbors 4 Neighbors from the Heartland recently noted that, “On our second relief mission, we saw the despair of town that was literally washed away by Hurricane Rita. Yet, the hope the donated items Kansas City gave the victims, shown through like a beacon. That is the power of giving. Anyone who has experienced this type of effort knows that the giving is the receiving.”

“Imagine what you would do if your home, your office, or your church were gone. What would you do? What can we do for these people to let them know that we care and that we are here for them just as they would be there for us?”

We realize that many people may be fatigued by the relief efforts. However, our neighbors to the South and their children remain in need. We must renew our efforts to spread hope. If disaster struck your next door neighbor, what would you do? Our neighbors need our help.

Your continued support of this relief effort. We are beginning our second wave of donated items that now focuses on school supplies for the children evacuees. Our contacts in Louisiana inform us that schools have four times as many students as a result of the evacuation. As a result, we are both seeking donated items of school supplies as well as new computers or money so we can purchase computers for the children.

Our hope is to get these items collected and shipped to Louisiana by October 3. We will be adding more drop sites to save gas consumption as prices again rise.

If you have the ability to donate a large volume of supplies that are on the list please let us know.

1. Place all items in a 2-gallon size zipper seal bag and seal it.

2. Collect banana boxes from the grocery store, place cardboard or a paper bag in the bottom, and place 6 completed School Kits in each box and no additional items.

3. Secure each box with packing tape and mark the outside of the box “6 School Kits”.

Current drop sites include:

THE O’CONNOR LAW FIRM, P.C. at 110 East Fifth Street (between Grand and Walnut on Fifth) Qdoba Mexican Grill at Zona Rosa, Christ Church Unity at Barry Road and N. Troost.

The O'Connor Law Firm in working for justice has provided thousands dollars and countless hours buying, collecting, transporting, and delivering relief supplies directly to the victims of both Hurricane Katrina and Rita. As the core sponsor of Neighbors 4 Neighbors, a not for profit founded by Matt O'Connor, the firm continues to deliver hope to the thousands that have lost everything. Neighbors 4 Neighbors is requesting monetary donations that will be given directly to the Council on Aging in Cameron, Louisiana. The town of Cameron was completely leveled by Hurricane Rita. The Council has set up relief efforts that buy food, clothing, and medicine for the now homeless town of Cameron. As the cold winter approaches, many have no winter clothes. The money collected will be used to buy coats at a local store at a substantially reduced price. Your monetary donation will go farther to help put coats on these beautiful people.

We are so thankful that our neighborhood was not destroyed. Let us share our Thanksgiving with our neighbors in Cameron, Louisiana. Please consider donating money by either sending it Neighbors 4 Neighbors, c/o the O'Connor Law Firm, 110 East Fifth Street, Kansas City, Missouri .