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<DIV>I watched and watched - couldn't fathom the immensity of it all . . . Even as we in Tennessee had Katrina pass over us - closing our schools - subjecting us to unusually violent storms - and having NO earthly notion of the extent of damage in MS and LA.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>My company Keller Williams Realty has (had) 12 offices in the afflicted coastal area with @ 1100 associates. Even today, we have only heard from 45 of those 1100 people. We are ever hopeful that most left the area befrore the storm hit. . . . and then the reality of it hit . . . Our company is a real estate company - Even if all of these folks survive, their "Livelihood" is now dead . . . There will not be a lively real estate market for a long time.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>How has our company reacted? We are a company of independent contractors (Real Estate Sales people). Our corporate office and virtually EVERY single office nationally (500 offices and 50,000 associates) sprang into action.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>- We have a fund called "KW Cares" set up solely for the purpose of helping our own membership through tough times. We thought this fund would be there to support individual families - victims of isolated tragedy . . . It was not evolved enough to comprehend supporting the possibility of @ 1000 families in distress. 100% of the donations to KW Cares go to aid - it is administered by KW</DIV>
<DIV>- Within 72 hours of the landfall of Katrina, KW Cares received IMMEDIATE funding of over 3 MILLION Dollars coming from agents across the country.</DIV>
<DIV>- EVERY office in the country will be donating 10% of its profits DIRECTLY to KW Cares - Those donations will automatically hit the account on Tuesday amounting to several more million</DIV>
<DIV>- EVERY KW associate has been "challenged" to donate $100 individually within the next 2 weeks (another $5 Million)</DIV>
<DIV>- Several agents who own their own moving trucks have loaded the trucks with supplies and sent them to the affected region - our truck left this morning</DIV>
<DIV>- An instantaneous network has appeared to identify housing opoprtunities for "refugees" . . . Our associates are offering unrented investment properties etc</DIV>
<DIV>- Blood drives are being organized by an office in every city served by KW</DIV>
<DIV>- I'm sure there is more . . . needless to say, we are DIRECTLY affected by this storm - and I am amazed by the quick and generous response of our entire organization.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I live in Nashville, TN - Nashville will be one of the "recieving points" of refugees and medical evacuees (Vanderbilt University) . . . We have a "wing" of the air National Guard making regular relief flights. Nashville is a small enough city that we are ALL affected immediately (Gas prices have doubled in 3 days time). . . There is not a single life in our city that has not been directly affected - and we are 350+ miles from New Orleans . . . I have several friends (doctors pilots etc) who have been up-rooted from "normal routine" and sent to the Gulf Coast for an indefinite period of time.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I believe EVERYONE is doing what they can individually do - The sheer immensity of this catastrophy has overwhelmed even the most stalwart folks. My family was heading to the mountains for a long Labor Day week-end - We cancelled the trip and donated the money we would have spent on the trip to KW Cares. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I see there are many emails on this list @ aid . . . I can only reaffirm the mantra I keep hearing - SEND MONEY to the organizations which are pioneering the relief efforts . . . and pay attention to the percentage of that money that will actually be used to benefit the distressed people. These folks have lost EVERYTHING . . . Those who have survived have lost their homes and their careers and their neighborhoods and their childhood landmarks - EVERYTHING - The organizations on the ground in that region can (and will) rebuild as quickly as their funding provides - Keller Williams realizes this and has turned on a HUGE money generating machine . . . </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Speaking of SELF-ORGANIZATION . . . </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>b</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Some links to organizations aiding the relief efforts</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>KW Cares</DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://www.kwcares.org">www.kwcares.org</A></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=Verdana size=2>American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund <BR></FONT><A href="http://dc.publicaster.com/enterprise_smtp/enterlinkinfo.cfm?campaign_id=1202J84E4A5E7846708040441&ct_to=barryo@comcast.net&emailid=479225&list_name=SOVOLMaster&target=http://www.redcross.org/"><FONT face=Verdana size=2>http://www.redcross.org/</FONT></A><FONT face=Verdana size=2> <BR>(800) 435-7669<BR><BR>Catholic Charities, USA <BR></FONT><A href="http://dc.publicaster.com/enterprise_smtp/enterlinkinfo.cfm?campaign_id=1202J84E4A5E7846708040441&ct_to=barryo@comcast.net&emailid=479225&list_name=SOVOLMaster&target=http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/"><FONT face=Verdana size=2>http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/</FONT></A><BR><FONT face=Verdana size=2>(800) 919-9338<BR><BR>Salvation Army <BR></FONT><A href="http://dc.publicaster.com/enterprise_smtp/enterlinkinfo.cfm?campaign_id=1202J84E4A5E7846708040441&ct_to=barryo@comcast.net&emailid=479225&list_name=SOVOLMaster&target=http://www.1800salarmy.org/"><FONT face=Verdana size=2>http://www.1800salarmy.org/</FONT></A><BR><FONT face=Verdana size=2>(800) 725-2769<BR><BR>United Methodist Committee On Relief <BR></FONT><A href="http://dc.publicaster.com/enterprise_smtp/enterlinkinfo.cfm?campaign_id=1202J84E4A5E7846708040441&ct_to=barryo@comcast.net&emailid=479225&list_name=SOVOLMaster&target=http://gbgm-umc.org/"><FONT face=Verdana size=2>http://gbgm-umc.org/</FONT></A><BR><FONT face=Verdana size=2>(800) 554-8583<BR><BR>America's Second Harvest<BR></FONT><A href="http://dc.publicaster.com/enterprise_smtp/enterlinkinfo.cfm?campaign_id=1202J84E4A5E7846708040441&ct_to=barryo@comcast.net&emailid=479225&list_name=SOVOLMaster&target=http://www.secondharvest.org/"><FONT face=Verdana size=2>http://www.secondharvest.org/</FONT></A><BR><FONT face=Verdana size=2>1-800-344-8070</FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=signature id=signature>--<BR>What does your "way" move you towards? <BR><BR>Barry Owen <BR>The Owen Group <BR>Keller Williams Realty <BR>The fastest growing, most innovative real estate firm in North America! <BR>105 Westpark Dr Suite 100 <BR>Brentwood, TN 37027 <BR>615.568.2123 <BR>http://www.geocities.com/barryo.geo</DIV></body></html>
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