AAL OFFERS AID TO VICTIMS OF HURRICANES

Aid Association for Lutherans of Appleton, Wis., has allocated a total of $500,000 to help its national volunteer network of more than 8,000 branches raise money for the victims of Hurricane Andrew.

Local AAL branches across the country have responded to the call for aid to hurricane victims. AAL volunteers in Florida and Louisiana were out in force the day after the storm, loading vans, trucks and motor homes with food, tools, plywood, ice and other supplies, said Richard Sauer, assistant vice president of fraternal benefits for the Eastern region of the United States.

Emergency funds were distributed to local branches through AAL's benevolence program called "Helping Hands: Caring Acts Through Fund Raising or Service." Through the program, AAL provides its branches with organizational and financial support to conduct helping activities for individuals, congregations and communities. The special funds earmarked for Hurricane Andrew relief is in addition to normal Helping Hands relief"I continue to be amazed at the immediate response of our AAL volunteers, Sauer said. "They responded quickly and many others from all across the country are organizing fund-raising events to help the victims of the storm. The total impact of our additional $500,000 Helping Hands matching funds allocation will be well over $1 million."

Anne Jabo of Hialia, Fla., watched with dismay the television images of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Andrew on her neighbors to the south. She prayed that there might be something she could do to help. Two days later, Jabo, the president of an AAL branch, was in Perine, one of the communities hardest hit by the hurricane.

In almost unbearable heat and humidity, Jabo was cleaning debris from Mount Olive Lutheran Church and helping with the distribution of food, water, bedding and other supplies.

Shelly Karolus, president of an AAL branch in Hollywood, Fla., used money that AAL wired to the branch to buy two portable generators, gasoline for the generators and other supplies and equipment. Branch members brought the supplies to Mount Olive, where they pitched in to help with the clean-up effort.

"AAL is very important in a crisis like this where you have people who have nothing. The support was there when we needed it, Karolus said.

AAL is a membership organization offering volunteer opportunities and insurance to its 1.6 million members nationwide.