Right after I turned 9 years old, a tornado devastated a town neighboring my northcentral Pennsylvania home.

At the time, I didn't really know that much about tornadoes or what they did, outside of the true science-fiction classic "The Wizard of Oz," and as we toured this community that day back in 1985, I was truly taken aback by what we found.

There were armed National Guard troops everywhere, the first time I saw any live military people with guns. Windows were gone from many brick structures, and trees were just uprooted everywhere. The local Baptist church was missing some shingles from its roof, and a block away, the only thing that remained of the Methodist church was its stone front steps.

The high school got hit hard as well. The storm tore the roof off the gymnasium, turned it about 70 degrees, and dropped it back down again.

Tornadoes weren't something that took you to a land of color. They were a force of nature that could destroy homes and lives in a blink of an eye, and they were something I would never shrug off again.

I couldn't imagine what it's like for the people living in Greensburg, Kansas. The victims I saw more than 20 years ago lost a lot, but for those in Greensburg, they virtually had their community of 1,000 homes and a few dozens businesses wiped from the map on the evening of May 4.

No one can ever doubt how passionate sci-fi fans are, and it's not just about the television shows, movies or even books that we love. It's about any cause that we set our mind to. And in the midst of this tremendous month-long drive to bring back the CBS series "Jericho," that New Jersey nut distributor that has received a lot of attention not just from Airlock Alpha, but from media all across the country, decided to help fans focus their passion by setting up a relief fund for the people of Greensburg, where it will take more than $100 million to even begin to put the pieces back together in that town.

This was definitely something that Nuts Online president Jeffrey Braverman didn't have to do. I mean, he already was taking a significant financial loss by selling more than 20 tons of nuts at cost. But Braverman knew that the campaign had to be more about saving a single television show -- it had to be a true unification of the human spirit. And that's what the "Save Greensburg, Kansas" campaign is all about.

What does this have to do with sci-fi? Very little. When CBS officially announced the return of this little show that could after one of the most successful fan campaigns in all of history, I was practically moved to tears. I have seen campaigns come and go over the years, but as the "Nuts to CBS" campaign continued to snowball, I realized that there was nothing that was going to stop these fans from saving a show that deserved to be saved.

Yes, the show is saved. But Greensburg isn't. Fans opened up their pocketbooks and wallets and shelled out more than $50,000 for 8 million peanuts. Now it's time to see if we can do just as much for the victims of a tragedy they should've never been a part of. At last count, the Save Greensburg campaign has raised more than $16,000, but I know that we as fans can do better than that.

Go to the "Save Greensburg" Web page by clicking here. If you would rather make a donation directly, Nuts Online has an address right there and you can cut out the middle man.

And while you're at it, don't forget about the troops overseas. One of the great things that CBS did besides bring back "Jericho" is donate the tons of peanuts to a variety of charities, including one that would deliver some tasty nuts to troops putting their lives on the line in different parts of the world.

My sister's mother-in-law, Chris Jovenitti, has been operating a "Letters From Home" campaign for the last four years, providing care packages and other pieces of home for American troops.

It's not a matter of whether you support this war (or any war for that matter), troops don't choose where they go or what actions they take part in. And while a good portion of our readers are from outside the United States, it doesn't hurt to take a few minutes to salute your own soldiers either, and I'm sure various charitable organizations can be found through a simple Google search.

If you are interested in learning more about the "Letters From Home" campaign, visit www.lettersfromhomeprogram.org.

And with that, I salute all of you.

SyBits

All of the ballots from our nominating committee are in, and we are gearing up for the upcoming 2007 SyFy Genre Awards, one of the Internet's first and biggest fan-selected virtual awards. We have a special surprise coming up for you in the next couple weeks when we announce our nominees, and I think you'll be very happy with the diversity.

Now that it's "Battlestar Galactica's" final season coming up, I hope it gets more attention than it has in the past. Over the last two years, BSG has led all nominees, but has yet to receive a single award. So come on! When the voting starts later this month, give BSG some love!

And speaking of which, let's open the mailbag ...

Yes, you did "tell us so" [about the end of "Battlestar Galactica"]. BSG is my show, but better it end now then become perpetually lame.

My same thoughts on another show I love, "Lost." I can think of other shows that wore out their welcome and should have ended much earlier ("The Sopranos" and "The X-Files" for example).

My question for you is this: Is there any hint that the end of "Lost" or "BSG" marks the beginning of a big screen adventure?
-- Neal

Well, Neal, there's an old Vulcan proverb that says, "Never say never ... at least in Hollywood." And that's the case, here.

Remember, studios are driven by that capital S with a two vertical lines through it, and if they feel there is enough of a market for future direct-to-DVD or even big-screen adaptations or continuations of shows like "Lost" or "Battlestar Galactica," you know it will happen.

But I wouldn't count on it. Movies require broad box office appeal, and it's hard to do that with shows that were highly serialized. That's why you never see movies based on "The Young & The Restless" or even "Melrose Place."

Maybe we'll see a direct-to-DVD film or two in the future, but once again, that all depends on who turns out to see these series come to a close.

Everywhere I turn, I see nothing but news about the return of "Jericho." I started watching that show after a friend explained the premise to me, and I haven't stopped watching since.

I joined the campaign after I first read about it on Airlock Alpha, and I can say that no other news site (or even newspaper) covered this campaign better than Airlock Alpha. Yet, everyone is always crediting Shaun O'Mac or everyone else.

I just want to say that you did something very amazing for "Jericho," and we couldn't have done it without Airlock Alpha. They should name a character after you in the second season.
-- Arnold Lachey, Denver

Name a character after me, eh? Carol Barbee, I hope you're reading!

But in all seriousness, the entire volunteer staff here at Airlock Alpha just did their job. And that's all we ever do. There was news to report, and we reported it. Personally, I was a big supporter of the campaign, and that may have come across in our reporting, but in the end, we only covered what we thought was newsworthy. It's not our fault there were so many interesting things going on ...

But we aren't here to get credit, nor do we deserve all of it, or even a good portion of it. The true heroes of this campaign are the fans, like you and like me. Like Shaun O'Mac and like even Jeffrey Braverman from Nuts Online (and they both deserve all the accolades they have been getting).

In the end, our biggest reward will be if we brought in new readers for the site, because I can tell you that we bust our asses doing this for peanuts (and not even literally). So just getting a well wish like that means more to us than you could ever believe.

I read your column every week, and I notice at the end, you say you were Time's Man of the Year, but I have looked through their archives, and I can't find your name anywhere.

What gives?
-- Anonymous

Well, you see, there is this device I like to use in this column called humor ...

If you want to send me a letter, just drop me an e-mail at mhinman@airlockalpha.com and you might find your words rigt in this very spot

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Have a great week, and don't be a stranger!

Michael Hinman, named Time magazine's Person of the Year in 2006, is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha, writing out of Tampa, Fla. He can be reached at mhinman@airlockalpha.com