Representatives from various PHCP industry organizations participated in a teleconference call on Sept. 2 to shape an industry-wide response to Katrina relief and recovery. Participants included ASA, ASPE, ASSE, IAPMO, PHCC, PMI, MCAA, MCA of Canada, MCA of Alberta, The World Plumbing Council and the UA.

Almost all of those groups had already pledged money and other donations to various relief efforts in the days following Katrina. The yet-to-be-named coalition aimed to determine if there is any existing infrastructure-possibly through FEMA-to act as a clearinghouse for rebuilding efforts, which could include materials, manpower and money.

Projects like Rebuilding Together, a national charity supported by the PHCC, offer individualized help to those in need. Other avenues and relief organizations to be contacted included the World Health Organization, the Red Cross, The Army Corps of Engineers, and the Salvation Army. At deadline, assignments were handed out and fact-finding was to continue leading to a second conference call in late September.-JO