[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 78 (Thursday, June 2, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1034]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             BRENT BESHORE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BLAINE LUETKEMEYER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 2, 2011

  Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a locally 
coordinated, social media-based fundraiser that was held recently in 
Columbia, MO, for the Joplin tornado relief effort that raised more 
than $1 million.
  This story begins on Sunday, May 22, 2011 with Brent Beshore, a 
Joplin native turned Columbia entrepreneur, who immediately after the 
tornado struck Joplin began to call, email, text and Facebook family 
and friends to ensure they were safe. Wanting more information, but 
without anywhere to go, Brent created a Facebook page titled ``Joplin, 
MO Tornado Recovery'' so others would have a place to get and share 
information. Brent then began pulling information from a Twitter feed 
set up to track Joplin and tornado keywords, information and requests 
and sharing it with the group. The Facebook page grew almost 
instantaneously from 60 likes, to 600, then to 6000 and continued to 
grow at an almost exponential pace. The group currently has over 
170,000 likes.
  Brent reached out to Tim Rich, executive director of the Heart of 
Missouri United Way and a former staff member for my predecessor, 
Congressman Kenny Hulshof, to set up a fund for relief efforts. Tim 
without hesitation set up a special fund that would go one hundred 
percent of its proceeds to Joplin tornado relief. Within hours of the 
tornado, Brent and Tim had established the world's first dedicated 
tornado relief fund for Joplin. They quickly established an ambitious 
fundraising goal of $500,000. KOMU-TV, the NBC-affiliated television 
station for Mid-Missouri also played a key role in getting the word out 
about the fundraising efforts and even held a telethon to assist 
Joplin.
  Through these efforts donations came in from small towns in Missouri 
to as far away as Saudi Arabia, Sweden and South Africa. A simple idea 
had quickly turned into a global operation.
  Brent was in contact with politicians, musicians, disaster relief 
experts, and Fortune 500 charitable foundations. Social media was 
constantly updated and organized.
  The results were nothing short of astonishing. By Thursday May 26, 
their fundraising efforts surpassed their greatest expectations, taking 
in over $1 million. The team had executed a flawless event including an 
on-air prime time telethon and had collected donations from around the 
world. The Facebook page was referenced as a go-to resource by most 
national media outlets. The relief efforts were even re-tweeted by 
Oprah Winfrey.
  The idea of one man, executed with the help of his friends and his 
community, has benefited so many. I ask my colleagues in joining me and 
thanking all the volunteers who made this effort a resounding success. 
I also ask my colleagues to continue to keep all of the people impacted 
by this disaster in their thoughts and prayers.

                          ____________________