Junior Robbie Abelon spent the past three weeks in Baton Rouge, La., volunteering with the American Red Cross to help with evacuees from Hurricane Katrina; he came back to Sacramento in time for his sister’s 18th birthday on Thursday.

As head of facilities for the Red Cross at Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in Baton Rouge, La., Abelon met with new evacuees when the buses arrived. He instructed the individuals of the shelter’s rules and regulations.

He also helped set up the 400 cots inside a basketball arena for the people expected to come from Hurricane Katrina. He and the other volunteers eventually had to add 200 more cots to prepare for evacuees from Hurricane Rita.

The shelter was lucky enough to be supplied with electricity, showers, clean water and 70 telephones so people could contact their families. Also, Baton Rouge was in a location where cell phones could work normally.

He worked alongside 29 other people for the morning shift, which lasted from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 at night. The evening shift consisted of 12 people from 8:30 p.m to 7:30 a.m.

The government and history major spent most of his 13-hour shift speaking with individuals, listening to their stories and trying to boost the morale.

“I wanted to know everything I could about these people,” Abelon said. “There were a lot of tragedies.”

Abelon spoke about a mother who was able to keep her 3-year-old daughter, but was separated from her 13-month-old child. The toddler was eventually found, but by that time, the mother had already left the shelter with her other child. Abelon left before he could find out if the family was reunited.

“One of the biggest challenges inside the shelter was combating rumors,” Abelon said. “We had the news on the huge jumbo screen in the gym, so we were only getting limited information from the news and from the people just coming in. However, the residents believed the volunteers over the news and gossip.”

While speaking with the shelter residents, he learned a lot about the Southern culture, particularly that the most important things in life are family and religion. Abelon laughed when he recalled that the evacuees made light of his California accent. Volunteers were introduced to Southern hospitality when the evacuees would recognize names and faces after only a few hours.

The shelter allowed the television to be on from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. The news was the main attraction until the New Orleans Saints or Louisiana State University had a game.

Learning from the conditions at the Convention Center and the Superdome in New Orleans, the Red Cross took extra care to keep the shelter sanitary. Evacuees were made aware of the mandatory showers and change of clothing to rid of any germs or bacteria that might have been transferred from the contaminated floodwaters.

The volunteer doctors and nurses also tried to keep the levels of contagious diseases to a minimum, especially with 400 occupants in the shelter.

Abelon and the other volunteers tried to maintain some normality for the evacuees. Adults whose companies were still running could continue going to work. The children were given school lessons and had access to after school programs, complements of faculty and student volunteers from Southern University.

The university police and the Louisiana National Guard kept track that all evacuees were inside the shelter by 10 p.m. However, exceptions were made for people who proved that they were working.

As Abelon and the other volunteers prepared to leave Louisiana, they received a lot of hugs and kisses from the residents.

“It’s remarkable how close you can get to people in a short amount of time,” he said.

When he came back to his Sacramento State classes, he found himself caught in the limelight.

“My professors are putting me on the spot,” Abelon said. “They’re introducing me and making me tell my experience to the class.”

Professor Ken DeBow from the government department expressed his admiration for Abelon. “He deserves all the credit in the world,” he said. “We can all learn something from Robbie.

“It’s easy to go and volunteer if you’re retired. But the life of a student is not so easy to stop.”

Senior English major Ben Jacobs agreed with DeBow’s thoughts. “It’s good what he did,” Jacobs said. “It’s admirable.”

Abelon came back with two wishes from his trip. He hopes that more students will follow suit and help the victims of the hurricane, either by volunteering or by donating. His other wish is that he will keep in contact with the volunteers and shelter residents.

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Jamie Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]