PRESS RELEASE

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	September 8 , 2005

THE BUFFALO TEACHERS FEDERATION DONATES $15,000 IN BOTTLED WATER AND DIAPERS TO THOSE NEGATIVELY IMPACTED BY HURRICANE KATRINA

The Buffalo Teachers Federation (BTF) this morning formally donated $15,000 in bottled water and diapers that will be shipped south to those living in the Gulf Region whose lives have been negatively impacted by Hurricane Katrina, BTF President Philip Rumore announced.

Following televised reports of the massive damage, including within the City of New Orleans, the BTF's executive board directed $15,000 in union funds be used to purchase enough bottled water to fill one tractor-trailer and diapers to fill a second tractor-trailer. The BTF then reached out to the Food Bank of Western New York and the Tops Market on Niagara Street in the City of Buffalo, which helped facilitate the purchase of the goods and arranged transportation by two tractor-trailers down south.

"The BTF and its membership have a tremendous track record of not only giving back to the local community, but to those in need wherever they might be. That's why we reached out to Mike Shanahan, the manager of the Tops Market on Niagara Street, and Clem Eckert, president of the Western New York Food Bank, to help arrange the purchase and transfer of these needed items down south," BTF President Rumore said.

"While the BTF and its members have been placed in a media spotlight for the past several weeks in regards to our health care coverage, we all need to focus on our brothers and sisters who have suffered due to the catastrophic results of Hurricane Katrina. The BTF and its membership is proud to join with the generosity of so many other Western New Yorkers who have stepped forward to help," Rumore said.

Over the years, the BTF has been involved in a number of local and worldwide efforts to help those in need, including raising dollars to help struggling and starving children in war-torn Afghanistan and Kosovo, and the victims of the recent Tsunami, as well as help build a school for girls in Northern Afghanistan. In addition, the BTF has a long tradition of creating positive efforts aimed at helping the city's public schoolchildren and the local community, including annually helping 120 needy families at Thanksgiving, spearheading the effort to send Valentines to U.S. Troops serving in the Middle East, donating thousands of books to Buffalo students, and raising thousands of dollars for local charities.