The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund provides direct financial aid to 5,000 Houston-area families hardest hit by Hurricane Harvey

HOUSTON, Feb. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund today announced that it has worked with school officials in the Houston area to donate prepaid $1,000 American Express® cash cards to 5,000 of the families most severely affected by Hurricane Harvey.

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The donation is made possible by the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund as well as a grant from the firms and partners of Cantor Fitzgerald, The Newmark Group, and BGC Partners.

Allison and Howard Lutnick, along with Edie Lutnick, Founder and President of the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund, are spearheading this program and have worked with the office of Houston's Mayor Sylvester Turner to make this possible. More than 200 volunteers were mobilized to effectively distribute direct financial aid to deserving families at Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center on Sunday, February 11 and Monday, February 12. 

"We are delighted to be able to help those families most severely impacted by Hurricane Harvey," said Howard W. Lutnick, Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. and BGC Partners, Inc.  "In the aftermath of 9/11, we learned how important it was to provide direct financial aid to families in crisis and, more recently, to those struggling in the aftermath of natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey," said Howard W. Lutnick, Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. and BGC Partners, Inc.

Allison Lutnick, Mr. Lutnick's wife and one of the leaders of this effort, said: "The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund successfully rolled out a similar program in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy with excellent results. We knew from recent experience that this combination of community outreach and direct financial aid enables us to have the greatest impact for the greatest number of families." 

Edie Lutnick, Executive Director of the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund, said: "The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund is uniquely positioned to aid families faced with unimaginable loss and chaos in the aftermath of natural disasters. We know how important it is to help families in crisis be the decision makers around their own urgent needs and priorities."

About the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund
On September 11, 2001, 658 Cantor Fitzgerald friends and colleagues and 61 Eurobrokers employees were lost in the World Trade Center terrorist attack.  The families left behind struggled not only with the death of their loved ones but with insurance legalities that prevented them from receiving the financial support they desperately needed.

On September 14, 2001, the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund ("Relief Fund"), was formed with an initial donation of $1 million from Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC Partners Chairman and CEO, Howard Lutnick. 

Mr. Lutnick and the Firm's partners underwrote 100 percent of the expenses of the Relief Fund so that every penny of its income was paid out to those in need.  In addition to the families of Cantor Fitzgerald's employees who were lost on 9/11, the Relief Fund also assisted family members of World Trade Center victims from 14 other companies.  The Relief Fund raised and distributed over $180 million to over 800 families and 932 children of the victims of this tragedy.

Since 9/11, the Relief Fund expanded its scope to not only include victims of terrorism, but to also assist victims of natural disasters and emergencies, including victims of Superstorm Sandy, the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast, the tsunami of 2004 and the Haiti earthquake. The Relief Fund also works to assist wounded members of the U.S. military. Since its inception, it has distributed over $304 million.

To donate, please visit: https://www.cantorrelief.org/donate-now/

SOURCE Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund