Alconox official helps gulf.

AMERICAN FORESTS counts many companies among the supporters of its Katrina ReLeaf Fund, which supplies grants to regreen the hurricane-damaged southern coast. One that has seen the effort firsthand is the chief operating officer for Alconox, Inc, maker of an aqueous cleaner.

Lebowitz once lived in now-devastated Louisiana and after seeing the destruction there signed on as a volunteer with the West Chester, New York, chapter of the American Red Cross. After completing training, he worked in Pass Christian and Gulfport, Mississippi, driving a supply truck.

An amateur photographer, Lebowitz took pictures of the environmental ruin he witnessed, part of his interest in the environment and how best to preserve it. That long-standing interest in the natural world has resulted in his company working with AMERICAN FORESTS since 1998.

AMERICAN FORESTS' Global ReLeaf Forests program plants trees in areas where they have been lost to human-or nature-caused actions. The Katrina ReLeaf Fund, part of the Global ReLeaf program, urges individuals to help restore urban and rural forests, which provide clean air and water and restore a sense of home to devastated communities.

As with Global ReLeaf Forests, every dollar donated to Katrina ReLeaf plants a tree. Some of the money is also being used to help flush salt from tree roots and cover exposed roots with soil and mulch.

Lebowitz says memories of that experience stayed with him long after he returned home. "It was extraordinary to meet volunteers from all over this country as well as Canada and Bermuda," Lebowitz says. "The reclamation effort in this part of the country by volunteers was enormous by any standard, and I was proud to be a part of it."