Note carefully how it is worded.
The areas on the list have been determined to be most in need of post- disaster assistance
Yes, but to read carefully and not add your own wording into it. It only says assistance. Not financial assistance. To assist someone is to help. I take that to mean physical help. They need bodies to volunteer in an area where it is hard to find that kind of help.
There are very few people who will take initiative here for "dirty work" let alone for jobs that require them to be in harms way. Its a very different breed of people than is the "norm" here. I applaud Cal for volunteering. I also come from a family of "volunteers" and public service. Being a FireDepartment "brat" I tend to be the one at work now that clues people into the dangers and volunteers for security assistance at our company.
You would be amazed at how many people do not think it can happen to them or where we are. The company I work for is the only US company that has equipment to identify anthrax in mail rooms and post offices all over the country. We work at the House of Reps, Congress and at NBC. We had over 700 people at the WTC and our people were the ones sick with Anthrax when it was discovered in 2001 at those various locations. And yet, they still think its not a danger to them.