ANNOUNCEMENT: Pre-AMS/SEM/SMT New Orleans Volunteering

[AMS]

Dear Members of SMT, AMS, and SEM,

I hope everyone is looking forward to an exciting joint meeting in New Orleans this year!

I write to you to suggest a project: Would you be willing to donate your time and energy to help rebuild homes?

It has been seven years since Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast, yet many residents of New Orleans are still rebuilding their homes, businesses, and other important centers of their community. Of course, when we travel there in November, we will not get to see the full impact that Katrina had almost a decade ago - the French Quarter was one of the first places to get rebuilt! The effort still continues in more impoverished areas and I think that we can provide much aid in rebuilding. I have participated in rebuilding with the St. Bernard Project (http://www.stbernardproject.org/) before and I think that it is a worthwhile venture for this year's conference attendees.

I propose arriving in New Orleans the weekend before the conference (around Friday, October 26) and volunteering until the conference begins. At this point, I am in the very beginning planning stages - there are no set dates and I have not yet communicated with a rebuilding project.

If you are interested, please contact me with your information and possible date(s) of arrival. I hope to garner enough support in order to start planning and hopefully, have everything organized by the end of the summer.

Also, if you have any ideas or questions, please contact me or visit the St. Bernard Project website. If you have suggestions for other volunteer programs, I would be happy to hear them.

Please also understand that due to legal issues, we are not able to partake in this project through the societies. Therefore, we will be acting as individuals and not as part of SMT, AMS, or SEM.

Thank you,

Stefanie Acevedo (SMT)
(716) 213-6468
stefanie at stefanieacevedo.com