[Guest post] The "Magicians Support Fund" by IBM

The following is from Dennis Schick, the editor of the Broken Wand in the International Brotherhood of Magician's magazine, The Linking Ring:

 Hello fellow magicians:

    There likely will be magicians in the very-active world of magic in Houston, Texas and throughout the Gulf Coast, who will need all the help they can get in coming weeks and months. Since the devastation of Hurricane Harvey and the resulting floods was still taking place as the September issue of The Linking Ring was going to press, I had the idea of asking I.B.M. members — and other magicians — to give to the Magicians Support Fund, anticipating those needs. I was able to get a request for funds in that issue.

    The Magicians Support Fund was started almost exactly twelve years ago, in response to another natural disaster — Hurricane Katrina, in 2005. The late Phil Wilmarth, then editor of The Linking Ring; Past I.B.M. International President Michael Stratman (2002-03); and then-IBM President Roger Miller, got the idea of an independent fund to help fellow magicians in need.

    Indeed, the fund did help a number of magicians who suffered in various ways from Katrina, and has continued to help other magicians since then. The fund is not an official activity of the I.B.M., and magicians do not need to be an I.B.M. member to benefit from it. “This is a magicians-helping-magicians fund,” said Stratman, who continues as chairman of the committee.

    At this time the Fund is not tax-deductible (although it may become so if someone volunteers to take it over and do the paperwork). Requests for help can come directly from a magician, or can come from someone who knows of a need. The committee will consider every request.

    “Right now we need donations to build up the fund,” says Stratman. “We can’t give it away if we don’t have it. Magicians are a generous lot, and now is the time to show it.” Please send check donations — and requests for help — to:

Mike Stratman
Magicians Support Fund
126 Coyatee Circle, Louden, TN 37774.

    Contact Stratman at mikestrat4 @ aol . com for more information.