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	NBA HURRICANE AID RESOURCE CENTER
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	STATEMENTS NBA MOBILIZES TO AID HURRICANE VICTIMS Statement of National Bar Association President Reginald M. Turner Regarding Hurricane Katrina The National Bar Association (NBA) is poised to assist the people of the Gulf Coast region affected by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Our prayers are extended to members of the National Bar Association residing in the region, and to the hundreds of thousands of Americans suffering from the destruction. The NBA is mobilizing the maximum resources available within our organization to assist. We call upon our members to contribute to the relief efforts of the American Red Cross, and other local, state and national humanitarian agencies providing food, water, shelter and other basic necessities to hurricane victims. Each NBA member, affiliate chapter, section and division is requested to contact the American Red Cross by calling (800) HELP-NOW or by visiting its website at http://www.redcross.org. We ask that NBA members identify on calls or web responses their membership in the National Bar Association so that we may stand in unity with them in their relief effort. There are already some amazing stories of NBA members providing extraordinary assistance to families in need. Like Judge Cynthia Stephens of Detroit, the NBA Chaplain, who diverted from her vacation to go to Houston to minister to the spiritual and earthly needs of families transplanted from New Orleans. Like Attorney Russell Wilson of Texas, who personally provided food, water, clothing and shelter for a stranded family of nine people, paying for them to continue to stay in temporary housing from which they were about to be evicted. We truly belong to a noble profession! Finally, the NBA is joining with its local affiliates, such as the J.L. Turner Legal Association of Dallas, Texas and Houston Black Lawyers Association of Houston, Texas whose relief efforts are already underway as they tend to the specific needs of people on the ground. The NBA is also joining with the American Bar Association (ABA) to provide additional pro bono legal services and to help lawyers re-establish practices disrupted by the hurricane. Details regarding these efforts will be posted in the coming days on the NBA and ABA websites, www.nationalbar.org and www.abanet.org. I encourage you to go to the visit these sites to help you determine ways you can be of assistance. The NBA is the oldest and largest organization of attorneys and judges of color in the world. The NBA was founded in 1925, and today represents over 20,000 lawyers, judges, legal scholars and law students internationally.
	Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama Bankers Associations In a joint statement released this weekend, the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama Bankers Associations called on the nation's banks, bank employees and customers to aid in relief efforts along the Gulf Coast. On behalf of the three associations, ABA provides their joint statement in its entirety: More >
	MBBA President Johnson statement from New York Nadine Johnson, president of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, located in New York City, has announced the formation of the MBBA Gulf Coast Disaster Relief Fund. "The devastation of hurricane Katrina is of Biblical proportions and has impacted mostly poor and Black people of the Gulf Coast, especially the people of New Orleans and Mississippi. Hundreds have died. Hundreds of thousands of others are homeless and remain ravaged by the flooding, lack of food/drinking water, no power and lack of communication. People too poor to heed evacuation orders, to get out of the way of the seismic storm, are now facing continuing threats to their survival." stated Ms. Johnson. Areas hit on the Gulf Coast also include portions of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Former New Orleans Mayor, Marc Morial, now President of the National Urban League, said "I fear it's potentially like Pompeii." Other witnesses to the devastation report that it is like "downtown Baghdad." News accounts of the disaster maintain that it is the worst natural disaster in the history of the nation with New Orleans in danger of being virtually wiped off the map as a city. Ms. Johnson declared," It reminded me of 9/11 and the Tsunami. These events shake the conscious of the nation and wake up our hearts and minds to reach out and help." She placed several calls to a colleague in New Orleans to find out about getting relief directly to the area and could not get through. Even cell phones having a New Orleans area code are not operative at this time. Ms. Johnson continued that according to reports, "Added to the mix is the lack of funding, for preparation and attention to shoring up the levees and infrastructure on the Gulf Coast that should have been done years ago, by state and federal authorities and other interested parties as a preventative measure against such devastation known to be caused by hurricanes." However, while poor and Black people are struggling for their lives, depicted hanging onto rooftops of collapsing building structures, sources report that buildings in downtown New Orleans, in the financial district near where the federal courts are, are virtually untouched and water is continuously being pumped out from the area. "Now the focus must be on saving the lives of the people in the Gulf Coast," added President Johnson. Your donation is necessary and appreciated. Kindly make checks payable to MBBA (Gulf Coast Disaster Relief Fund) and mail to Metropolitan Black Bar Association, 299 Broadway Suite 1203A, New York, NY, 10007 - telephone - 212 964-1645.