Biloxi Clean Up Press Release

RHINO EMPLOYEE TAKES A “VACATION”
TO HELP EASE BILOXI’S BLUES

Rhino Entertainment Employee Brings Co-Workers
On Her Second Visit To Coastal City Decimated By Hurricane Katrina


LOS ANGELES — Forgoing the traditional Thanksgiving feast last fall, Rhino Entertainment’s Amanda Smith chose instead to volunteer in Biloxi, Mississippi, a coastal city of nearly 50,000 located just a few miles from where the eye of Hurricane Katrina made landfall. When the storm hit on August 29, it battered the city with a deadly 30-foot-high surge and 155-mph winds.

A Los Angeles resident today, Smith grew up just an hour east of Biloxi in Mobile, Alabama. Motivated partly by her local roots, Smith says she was also provoked by her frustration at the slow progress of the relief effort: “I knew I wasn’t going to change the world in four days, but I wanted to make some sort of contribution. I had to do something; anything.”

Smith, International Art Production Manager for Rhino Entertainment, will return to Biloxi in early April for a second altruistic vacation. This time, she’s bringing seven other volunteers, six of whom are Rhino employees. “When I got back to work I told everyone about my experience and showed them pictures of what I’d seen,” says Smith. “The company suggested that I give a presentation to all the employees about my trip, which started the ball rolling for this second visit. After a month of fundraising and a company-wide bake sale to pay for eight plane tickets, we leave on April 8. I still can’t believe the response.”

Rhino Records, a Burbank-based pop culture entertainment company, has a long history of supporting volunteerism among its employees, Smith says. To encourage community service, Rhino allows employees to earn extra vacation time by volunteering. “Rhino really makes it simple for employees to give their time,” she explains. “It’s nice to work for a company that supports giving back to the community in both words and deeds.”

When looking for a way to make a difference last Fall, Smith found the perfect fit with Hands On USA, a non-profit grassroots disaster relief group founded in 2004 in response to the tsunami that hit Thailand. Smith spent four days working with a group of 75 volunteers from different cities and walks of life who had gathered to rebuild Biloxi. “Hands On USA welcomed me with open arms from the start. They are very good at making it easy to volunteer. They offered to pick me up at the airport and gave me a place to stay and food to eat. They have a wonderful group of longtime and short-term volunteers who are really making a difference in a city that seems to have fallen off the media’s radar.”





Hands On USA offers an ever-evolving list of services to meet the needs of Biloxi’s low-income residents. The group of volunteers are currently gutting homes to prepare for rebuilding, offering mold abatement, roofing and tree removal, working with the Humane Society to care for the city’s stray and abandoned dogs and checking on residents, many of whom are living in tents and trailers on the lots where their homes once stood.

“We spent a day walking through East Biloxi, a poor neighborhood where the homes and businesses that hadn't been washed away will probably need to be bulldozed; almost complete devastation. We were there to make sure people had what they needed to survive and to provide some emotional support. Listening to survivors tell their stories was absolutely heartbreaking; one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But I found hope there too. People hadn’t given up. They were trying to put their lives back together even though the hurricane didn’t leave them many pieces.”

With her second trip only a few weeks away, Smith says she’s already considering a third stint volunteering with Hands On in Biloxi. “I went from sitting at home and feeling helpless to feeling empowered by joining a group of people that are working together to rebuild a city and community. This experience has made me realize that one person really can make a difference.”



For additional information regarding Amanda Smith’s Biloxi clean up trip, please contact Jeff White in Rhino Media Relations at (818) 238-6249 or jeff.white@wmg.com.