2008 President's Letters

September 15, 2008
A letter from Seamus Boyle regarding the storms throughout the South and Midwest regions of our country.

Brother Hibernians,
As you know over the past few months we have received very serious damage from storms through the South and Midwest regions of our country. At our convention a meeting was held and we are trying to find out how many of our brother and sister Hibernians have been affected by these storms. These past few weeks have been devastating to New Orleans although not as badly as Katrina, thank God. This past weekend we had horrendous storms throughout Texas and other parts of our country have also suffered. I have been trying to contact a few Hibernian brothers in Texas since last Saturday but I am confident that they will contact me with a report shortly. We are trying to establish how many of our members have been directly affected by Ike and other storms. Brother Jim McKay, our National Treasurer, from New Orleans, has reported that our brothers there missed the most of the damage and has been checking out other areas to find out what he can about members there. As you know, when Katrina struck New Orleans we were there to help and through your generosity the Hibernian Charity raised close to $100,000 and we are hoping to do the same now. If you know of any member who has been affected please let us know. We ask you, our brothers and sisters, to send donations, which are tax deductible, to our Hibernian Charity, earmarked for disaster relief. All you, your division, county or state board need do is make a check payable to: Hibernian Charity and in the memo at the bottom of the check write Disaster Relief.
You can mail the check to:
Hibernian Charity
PO Box391
Meriden CT  06451

One of our brother Hibernians, Glenn Cannon from Pittsburgh, is the number 3 person in command of FEMA and I spoke to him today 9/15/08 and he was very busy but had enough time to tell me of the destruction, devastation and death. Glenn has not had a day off in over seven weeks and is working tremendous hours trying to help those in need. He said that the main mission as of today was to get food, water and shelter for those who were left homeless by Ike. There is every available piece of military and private equipment on the scene as well as every available military personnel. Although there will be more deaths associated with the storm it will be at least a month before the electricity is back on and longer for the drinking water and sewer system to be back in service. 

Brothers I have sent a letter out to every state president on our list asking for their contact numbers and email address so that it will make it easier for all of us to have the state president contact the counties and divisions in his area. I did this so that the National Board can have conference calls with all state presidents on a regular basis so they can co-ordinate with the county and divisions in a more timely fashion. Although I had said I would implement this procedure if I were elected, this disaster now shows how important this is to our organization. Brothers I ask three things of you as members, (1) that you contact your state president and ask him to get me the information I requested as soon as possible. (2) That you, your state, county and division donate to the disaster relief through the Hibernian Charity. (3) That you keep all the people who have been affected by these disasters in your prayers.

Seamus Boyle
National President
Ancient Order of Hibernians in America