1. A special e-mail address, hurricanerelief@americanmensa.org has been created; Mensa members are urged to use this e-dress if they have assistance to offer (housing, supplies, transportation, employment, etc.) or if they or their family have been affected by Katrina, and need assistance.  Please be as specific as possible in your communication — name, membership number, location, and specific needs or ability to help.

    2. If you wish to make a contribution to the Red Cross through American Mensa, the National Office will collect donations and present them to the Red Cross in the name of concerned Mensans in a few weeks.  Checks should be made out to Red Cross – Disaster Relief, and mailed to American Mensa Ltd, 1229 Corporate Drive West, Arlington, TX 76006-6103.

    3. Project Inkslinger has been making inquiries to state and regional library associations to determine what their needs will be when it is time to restock their libraries, as well as to hospitals, schools, and refuge centers.  It is important to remember that although this will be an important activity, right now the most critical issues are about survival, and it is important not to get in the way of rescue operations.  Mensans wishing to distribute reading materials to shelters or refuge areas should make sure to check with local police and relief agencies first.

    Our National Inkslinger Coordinator, Michael Paul Beetham, has suggested that local groups and individual Mensans wishing to contribute reading material consider donating to a book-donating organization that already has a collecting-sorting-distribution system in place.  (The Web site www.albany.edu/~dlafonde/Global/bookdonation.htm has an extensive list of such organizations.)

    4. SIGHT (Service of Information, Guidance and Hospitality to Travelers) is working with Mensans to find shelter for some of the displaced Mensans.  If you have a spare room and would be willing to take in a fellow Mensan for an extended period of time, please contact SEMM SIGHT Coordinator, Li Quezada, vi7147@comcast.net.  (If you are not familiar with the SIGHT program I’m sure Li would be thrilled to tell you about it.)

    Additional information can be found on the American Mensa Web site: www.us.mensa.org

    If you are interested in further updates, on this or other important Mensa news, you may wish to sign up for AML Newsflash: http://lists.us.mensa.org/mailman/listinfo/amlnewsflash or please contact members:

Bob Beatty, AML Community Services Committee Chairman: communityservices@us.mensa.org

Paul Jensen, AML Assistant Community Services Committee Chairman: poppoppj@visi.com

Michael Paul Beetham, AML Project Inkslinger Coordinator:
Inkslinger@us.mensa.org

Bob Cox, AML SIGHT Coordinator:
SIGHT@us.mensa.org

John Massura, AML Assistant SIGHT Coordinator:
jmassura@chicago.us.mensa.org

Cheril Lin Abeel, SEMM Community Volunteer Coordinator: snapdragon48073@yahoo.com

Li Quezada, SEMM SIGHT Coordinator:
vi7147@comcast.net