13 January 2005
For Immediate Release:
Contact:
Scott Avedisian at 738-2000
John Howell at 732-3100
City Opens Rebuild A Village Campaign
Partnership With Bang Tao Announced by City of Warwick
With city officials, school students, business community leaders, representatives of the faith community, and the media all present this morning at Nelson W. Aldrich Junior High School, Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian announced the city’s “Rebuild A Village” campaign that will partner Warwick with Bang Tao, a fishing village in Thailand that was devastated by the recent tsunami.
Joining Avedisian as members of the steering committee that will oversee relief efforts were City Council President Donald Torres, former Mayor Joseph W. Walsh, Claire Flaherty (wife of State Representative Robert Flaherty), Warwick Beacon Publisher John Howell, Father Robert Marciano of Sts. Rose and Clement Parish, School Superintendent Robert Shapiro, and business leaders Jeff Johnson of Beacon Mutual, Lauren Slocum of the Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, and Paula Pratt of Citizens Bank.
But it was Warwick resident Marilyn Lang who captivated the announcement. Lang’s daughter Cindy Shaw (a Warwick native and graduate of Warwick Veterans Memorial High School) is a resident of Phuket Island and Lang relayed the anxiousness and concern that her family had gone through in trying to find out if Shaw, her husband, and young son were affected by the damage.
In emails and photographs, Lang shared the stories that Cindy has forwarded. Lang, a long time leader of fundraising activities for Kent Hospital, kept the assembled crowd hushed when reviewing the damage and the prospects for rebuilding.
Contributions may be made payable to “Rebuild A Village” and can be mailed to Citizens Bank Ten West Shore Road Warwick, Rhode Island 02886.
“This tangible connection between the people of the City of Warwick and the people of the Village of Bang Tao will surely illustrate the care and concern that exists amongst all people, and the fact that our school children have already raised more than $7,000 is a genuine testament to the caring nature of this community and the people who live here,” Mayor Avedisian said.
Aldrich Junior High School students donated the first $1,000 to the new fund and more than $6,000 has already been contributed to international relief agencies.
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