More than $675,000 collected for Hurricane Katrina victims

Over the past few weeks since Hurricane Katrina we've asked you to donate to the American Red Cross through our site, www.alamode.com/katrina, and our founder and Chairman, Dave Biggers, would match your donations. You came through in a big way, donating a total of $261,453.53, which Dave dutifully matched, dollar for dollar.

And as you know, many of the victims of Katrina were real estate professionals just like you. As Steve Cook, Vice President of Public Affairs at the National Association of REALTORS®, put it: "Katrina has been the worst disaster in history as far as the number of REALTORS® affected. Thousands of our members have lost their homes and will have a difficult time getting back on their feet."

Because we have so many valued customers in the areas hit by the massive storm, we knew that we had to do more to help them out. So, we've offered corporate housing to displaced families who may need it and deferred all fees and payments due us under service contracts, annual subscriptions, website renewals or anything else for our thousands of clients in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

We also matched the August 30 REALTORS® Relief Foundation donation of $150,000 in cash, split equally among the disaster recovery operations of the state REALTOR® associations in the three states. The REALTORS® Relief Foundation was created to provide assistance for housing related needs of victims of disasters like Katrina.

When you add your donations, Dave's matched donation and our $150,000 donation to the REALTORS® Relief Fund, together we've provided a grand total of $678,427.06 to bring aid, necessities and comfort to victims. We're not patting ourselves or even you on the back – we just want to let you know about the power and goodwill of the real estate professionals we work for.

And donations are still needed! If you would still like to help out Hurricane Katrina victims, we urge you to donate directly to the Red Cross site by clicking this link.