FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Patriots fans who wish to make financial contributions to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts may now do so through the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation. The Foundation has established a relief fund to accept donations on the team's web site www.patriots.com. While fans are encouraged to pledge donations in any $25 increment, those who make a donation of $1,000 or more will receive a special thank you from the Patriots organization. For each $1,000 donation, the Kraft family and the Patriots Charitable Foundation will reward the donor with one lower seating bowl ticket to Thursday night's season opener against the Oakland Raiders. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go directly to non-profit organizations directly supporting hurricane relief efforts.

"While we are extremely excited to kick off the 2005 Patriots season this Thursday, we are also committed to doing whatever we can as an organization to assist those who were affected by Hurricane Katrina", said Rena Clark, the vice president of community affairs and corporate philanthropy for the Patriots. "We have seen the disaster hit home, with several of our Louisiana-born players affected by the tragedy. We hope that the incentive of game tickets will encourage Patriots fans everywhere to donate to this extremely important cause."

The ticket incentive program was established to supplement the Patriots' own internal fundraising efforts that were announced last week. The New England Patriots Charitable Foundation has pledged to match donations from Patriots players, coaches and staff, for the first $100,000 raised.

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