In response to yesterday's post about innovative non-profit Community Voice Mail (CVM), I got a comment from their new marketing/PR person Karma Martell that I want to quote here, to call to your attention:

"Thanks to a last-minute contribution from the Cisco Foundation and connectivity from SBS, CVM will be on the front lines distributing their voice mail service to those in need in DFW and other cities that now host refugees. This will be done in cooperation with the Red Cross. There will be an official announcement shortly.

It is more crucial than ever that people contribute to CVM so that they can expand their reach to more homeless people and disaster victims. Community Voice Mail has an animation meant to go viral, that links to the Amazon donation site. It explains their service and helps shatter the stereotypes of homelessness and who it can affect (though hurricane Katrina has done a pretty good job of that lately). The animation does not go into CVM's part in the Katrina outreach as that is brand new information. I encourage people to post the link to the animation and email it to all those who are sensitive to the issues of homelessness in general and who want to help Katrina evacuees."