Thanks to all who have volunteered over the past few weeks to assist the Red Cross and others with technical support in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  Over 300 people and dozens of companies signed up, and the Red Cross has told us that the outpouring of help was really appreciated.  Here are some of the comments we received from Gordon Bass, the Deputy Chief Information Security Officer of the American Red Cross:

"Tim ... is spending 1 to 2 weeks of his personal vacation time on assignment in our disaster operations warehouse in Austin, TX, performing configuration management and deployment of computer assets to shelters."

"Robert ... is spending one or more days of his personal time helping us to configure our new TippingPoint IPSs at national HQ."

"Chris ..., and project manager, Russ ..., configured and delivered 16 IBM donated Thinkpads to four chapter/disaster operations locations in Mobile, Pascagoula, Gulfport, and Hattiesburg on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 9-10.  Those laptops are being used in shelter and client assistance operations."

"A week ago I mentioned two volunteers that were helping us out.  Since then, we have engaged many more SANS volunteers.  At this point I am not sure if I can even identify them all, since I shared our list of volunteers with so many people that needed technology help in our various Gulf coast service areas.  But we know they're helping.  As well as individuals, there are companies helping us out."

Folks, it goes without saying but Thanks Very Much for all that you are doing to assist in the recovery efforts!  Please keep up the great work and the volunteer spirit!