NATD and ASCDI Launch Katrina Relief Effort.

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. -- The North American Association of Telecommunications Dealers (NATD) and the Association of Service and Computer Dealers International (ASCDI) joined forces Tuesday to launch a joint relief effort for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding of New Orleans.

The effort will have two thrusts.

First, both organizations are recommending that their member companies make donations to the American Red Cross (or a first responder charity of their choice), which can deliver immediate relief and aide.

Second, the two groups have opened the NATD-ASCDI Katrina Emergency Relief Fund. The fund will direct its donations to help specific families impacted by the disaster who have a relationship with either association or are a part of the associated respective industries.

"It is the tradition of our association's charity drives to concentrate our fund raising towards very specific recipients who have made an impact in the lives of our members," said Joe Marion, NATD Executive Director and President of the NATD. "We have had members whose lives have been positively impacted by specific charities and we then raise money for these groups where we know our donation can make an appreciable impact. For example, the Ronald McDonald House in San Diego helped a member who had a critically ill child. We worked to make a contribution to that specific charity that year."

In this crisis, the NATD-ASCDI Katrina Emergency Relief Fund will first make direct assistance available to families of member companies and associated companies who have been directly impacted.

As of September 6, the ASCDI had been made aware of a family of a member company that had been made homeless by Katrina. Chip Seidel of Beach Financial has three brothers; Bud, Randy and Dennis Seidel, a sister-in-law, Karen Mascaro, and an 84-year-old mother who have lost all their homes, jobs and possessions in the catastrophe. Karen Mascaro's roof is under water.

Joe Marion has challenged the NATD and ASCDI communities to "get to work." In the best traditions of the two group's practice of making concentrated and meaningful donations on charities that have touched the personal lives of members, Marion has called on all members, and their employees to reach out and help the Seidels and the other victims of Katrina by contacting the NATD and ASCDI office and making a donation today.

In a joint statement, Tom Neumeyer (of NEU-COMP CO), chair of the charity committee of the ASCDI and Denny McBroom (of Telpro, Inc.), chair of the charity committee of the NATD, stated, "We urge all members to give to the Red Cross, or a similar first responder charity of their choice, in order to save lives, and to give to our joint relief fund in order to rebuild lives."

About the NATD

NATD is a not-for-profit trade association founded in 1986 to serve the interests of its members and the consuming public. Today's NATD has members from every major enterprise telecom channel including leading OEM business partners, dealers, distributors, independent channel dealers, software and hardware developers, service companies, and manufacturers. The NATD website includes information on member companies, including a directory of products and services offered.

Please contact the NATD office at 1-561-266-9440. Please visit http://www.natd.com to learn more.

About ASCDI

The ASCDI is a 22-year-old nonprofit organization made up of companies who provide technology solutions to the business community. For more information, visit http://www.ascdi.com.

Please contact the ASCDI office at 1-561-266-9016. Please visit http://www.ascdi.com to learn more.