INTERNET'S TOP HUMOR SITES JOIN HANDS TO HELP VICTIMS OF HURRICANE FLOYD.

Released_By: USANews Press Release Service
Date: 9/24/99
Time: 3:48:03 PM

For_Immediate_Release

Paradigm Visions, Inc. 54 O'Neill Court Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 http://www.funnymail.com

Contact: Aaron Zelins (609) 689-1077 email: aaron@paravisions.com

INTERNET'S TOP HUMOR SITES JOIN HANDS TO HELP VICTIMS OF HURRICANE FLOYD.

"Hurricane Floyd Humor Relief" uses some of the Net's largest sites and e-mail lists to get donations for American Red Cross efforts.

Sept. 24: Lawrenceville, NJ-The Internet's top humor sites have joined together to raise money to help victims of Hurricane Floyd. The relief effort, called "Hurricane Floyd Humor Relief," will benefit the American Red Cross's disaster relief efforts for this and other disasters.

Humor sites have some of the largest followings on the Internet. Hundreds of thousands of people receive e-mail newsletters from many of these top sites. "If you're trying to quickly organize a LOT of people, humor sites are the people to help," said Aaron Zelins of Funnymail.com, organizer of the effort.

Zelins says the best way to help Hurricane Floyd disaster victims is through a financial donation. "A financial contribution allows the victims to quickly obtain basic necessities for themselves and their families, while stimulating the disaster-affected local economy," according to the American Red Cross. To make a secure online donation to help the hurricane victims, visit the Red Cross's Web site at http://www.redcross.org/donate/donate-now.html .

The Red Cross is also looking for people who can donate time and blood to help affected communities.

Humor sites involved in the relief effort include FunnyMail.com, Amused.com, This is True, Mr. Monologue, Chris White's Top 5 List, Dr. Daniel's Movie Emergency, WitCity.com, CoolSig, and the International Junk Mail Clearinghouse.

Randy Cassingham of "This is True" says he has found online humor fans to be incredibly responsive. "This will give my subscribers, spread over 171 countries, a chance to do something about this disaster, rather than just read about it," Cassingham said.

Zelins says that he conceived the project on Monday, then spent a few days calling and emailing around to organize support from various other Internet humor sites and obtain approval from the Red Cross. "The online humor community has often been trendsetters before, but this is the first time I've seen so many sites unite for such a worthy cause," added Aaron.

If you would like to help, please stop by the Hurricane Floyd Humor Relief page at http://www.funnymail.com/floydrelief.html or visit http://www.redcross.org to go directly to the American Red Cross's Web site.