Some Marylanders are taking action to assist in the hurricane-

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Sep 26, 2005 by Kara Kridler

Eric Rice is actually doing something millions of Americans have only thought about doing the past month.

He's taking a break from his day job as general manager of Baltimore-based BulkRegister LLC, an Internet domain name registrar, to volunteer as a relief worker in the Gulf Coast region. Specifically, Rice is rescuing animals abandoned after Hurricane Katrina, and chronicling his experiences on the Web at ericsdogblog.com.

Rice chose to organize his trip on his own, traveling with just one other person. But area nonprofits have received an overwhelming interest from companies and employees wanting to help with organized groups.

We have had a lot of calls from area companies who wanted to send their staff to help out, said Lafeea Watson, a spokeswoman for the Salvation Army of Greater Baltimore.

We received more of a response than we could logistically handle - so we told people to phase their employees through the long term - no doubt there's going to be a long-term need.

So far, the Salvation Army has sent nearly 60 volunteers from Maryland and West Virginia, Watson said. And there are volunteers waiting to be sent.

The Red Cross of Central Maryland has sent nearly 180 volunteers from Maryland.

It's a three-week commitment to volunteer with the Red Cross, so we get a lot of people who have requested off or who are self- employed or retired, said Christen McCluney, a spokeswoman with the Red Cross of Central Maryland.

For Rice, 35, the main focus has been saving hundreds of animals in Mississippi and Louisiana.

It's horrible but at the same time we are still getting a lot of animals out alive, Rice said.

The only background Rice has in animals is caring for his two dogs, but now he is spearheading the efforts to rebuild the Humane Society of South Mississippi's animal shelter, which was destroyed by Katrina.

Rice's blog also accepts donations to his cause.

Our small group processed over 350 animals in 6 or 7 days. Tons of owners are finding us on the Internet and asking us to break into their home to rescue their pets or feed them until they get back. We go and sometimes the pets are alive, sometimes not, Rice wrote in one posting.

He said at one point he was receiving nearly 200 calls from people wanting to help. But most of the communication with pet owners and hopeful volunteers is done on the Internet.

The Internet has made this successful, he said. If there was no Internet, we would not have had a shot. We can post online and actually reunite pets with their owners.

Rice said BulkRegister has been supportive of his efforts. The company has also sent computers to the Humane Society.

Peter Morici, professor of business at the University of Maryland, College Park, said it's not uncommon for companies to be supportive of their employees taking time off to volunteer in the Gulf Coast area.

Generally speaking, larger companies can better absorb employees leaving for a few weeks, he said. That is not to say that smaller employers are not being charitable, but you have to make sure the company can still function.

For Rice, who received permission to stay at least another week, coming home is at the back of his mind.

We got 10 just this morning and hadn't walked more than two blocks from the shelter, he wrote for a posting last week. Every time we turn around, some neighbor or police officer comes to point out another animal that needs rescuing. ... This crisis is going to go on for months.