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CHARITIES TO RECEIVE MILLIONS FROM CLASS ACTION REVERTER

On July 18, 2008 approximately $13.5 Million Dollars will be distributed at a historic event in Cleveland involving 500 charity representatives, public officials, and other state and national community leaders. The charities receiving the monies include organizations feeding the hungry, providing housing, alcohol and drug addiction programs, disease research, community improvement, and a host of others throughout Ohio and nationally.

How is it possible to contribute all this money? Because of a legal doctrine known as cy pres. Cy pres awards are funds left over from class action settlements. In class action suits, it is nearly impossible to locate all beneficiaries. Even if they are located, many don't participate. This results in over 50% of class action settlement monies going unclaimed.

Ironically, the money in a class action settlement fund is paid by the defendant for amounts which defendant was not entitled to have in the first place. That is, monies obtained through some wrongdoing. Yet currently those unclaimed funds are given back to the defendant.

Cy pres is an alternative to have the leftover money paid to charity for the benefit of the entire community. The July 18th event to distribute over $13.5 Million Dollars in charitable cy pres is from just one case.

It will be the largest cy pres charitable distribution of this type in U.S. history.

We are making it a national event to kick off a coordinated campaign to obtain cy pres use on a regular basis in class action settlements.

The event will be held at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, downtown Cleveland, on Friday, July 18, 2008 at 12:30 p.m.
The following charities will receive money from the July 18, 2008 distribution or from related distributions during the months of March-September 2008 in excess of $15 Million.
  • 211 Geauga County Community Service
  • Action for Children
  • Adoption Network, Kids Project (Ohio)
  • Akron Children's Hospital
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters: Summit and Medina Counties; Northeast Ohio, Inc.; Central Ohio; and Northwestern Ohio
  • Birthright: Lake, Inc.; Geauga, Inc.; Cleveland; and Columbus, Inc.
  • Boys and Girls Clubs: Western Reserve; Youngstown; and Toledo
  • Buckeye Ranch Foundation
  • Camp Sue Osborn
  • Center for Child and Family Advocacy at Columbus Children's Hospital
  • Childhood League
  • Children's Hunger Alliance
  • Cincinnati Therapeutic Riding & Horsemanship
  • Cleveland Metropolitan School District Scholarship Fund
  • Coats for Kids, Inc.
  • Columbus Speech and Hearing Center
  • Community Shelter Board
  • County of Geauga Courthouse Renovation Fund
  • Crossroads of Lake County
  • Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
  • DARE America (Ohio)
  • Grange Insurance Audubon Center
  • Hannah's Home
  • Labrador Retriever Rescue Society of Cincinnati
  • Lakewood Catholic Academy Scholarship Need Program
  • Lawrence School
  • Legal Aid Society of Cleveland
  • Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Northeast Ohio
  • Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Northern Ohio Chapter
  • MADD: Northeastern Ohio; Columbus; and Southwestern Ohio
  • Maingate Business Development Corporation
  • Mary Lee Tucker Fund, Inc. aka Clothe-A-Child
  • Muscular Dystrophy Association: Columbus, Dayton; Cleveland; and Cincinnati
  • National Underground Railroad Museum Freedom Center
  • Nationwide Children's Hospital Foundation
  • New Directions for Living
  • New Directions, Inc. Alcoholism Treatment
  • Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks
  • One Way Farm Children's Home
  • Ronald McDonald House Charities — Central Ohio
  • Rotary Gift of Life
  • St. Herman's Hunger Center
  • The Employee Rights Advocacy Institute for Law & Policy
  • The Vincent Federico Scholarship Foundation
  • United Cerebral Palsy: Greater Cleveland; Greater Cincinnati; and Central Ohio
  • United Way of Butler County, Ohio - directed contribution to Family Resource Center of Butler County
  • United Way of Lake County - Homeless Outreach Center Project, Seniors Home Project, Emergency and Transitional Housing Project and Rehabilitation Project
  • Womankind, Inc.
  • Workplace Fairness





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