Daily Real Estate News  |  September 2, 2005  |   $460K Raised in Hours for Hurricane Katrina Relief Just hours after NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® President Al Mansell issued a plea via e-mail to the nation's 1.2 million REALTORS® Thurdsay, 1,684 responded by 9 a.m. this morning, contributing a total of $460,891 to the REALTORS® Relief Foundation for Hurricane Katrina victims in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. “More than 40,000 REALTORS® have been affected by Katrina—more than any other disaster in history,” Mansell said in the letter to NAR members. “Many have lost their homes and their businesses. Almost all REALTORS® in the region devastated by the storm have lost their livelihood because the real estate business in their communities will be shut down for months to come. “As we witness the horror and tragedy caused by Hurricane Katrina, we don’t have to sit silently by,” Mansell continued. “We can do something now to help.” Mansell stressed that NAR will absorb all administrative costs and 100 percent of all donations will go directly toward helping victims of the hurricane in the three states. REALTORS® raised more than $8 million to help the families of the Sept. 11, 2001, victims keep their homes and raised more than $1.8 million for the victims of the Dec. 26 South Asian tsunami. “Now we must help the victims of Katrina—so many of whom are our friends and colleagues,” Mansell said. To make a tax-deductible contribution, go to the REALTORS® Relief Foundation Web Site at REALTOR.org. To contribute by mail, checks should be made payable to the “REALTORS® Relief Foundation” and sent to REALTORS® Relief Foundation, Attn: NAR Finance Division, 430 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago IL 60611. Hurricane Katrina struck Gulf Coast cities in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi Monday, flooding or ravaging everything in its path and leaving millions of people homeless and without basic necessities like power and clean water. Officials estimate that it is the worst natural disaster to strike the United States since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, causing an estimated $25 billion in insured property losses. Mansell traveled to Alabama Thursday with NAR President-Elect Tom Stevens to survey the devastated states first-hand. However, because of severe fuel shortages in affected areas, the two NAR leaders cut their trip short in Birmingham, Ala., which is about four hours from the Gulf Coast. Gas is reported to be virtually impossible to come by in Mississippi and Louisiana and is being rationed in Alabama. NAR officials say Mansell and Stevens will try again in the near future to visit REALTORS® in the devastated areas. Hurricane Katrina Coverage Main Page To read more about Hurricane Katrina and NAR relief efforts, go to REALTOR.org. —By Haley M. Hwang for REALTOR® Magazine Online