I\'m an older man,and live alone, save for my chihuahua, Vida. I left on the Sunday before Katrina. I took my car and loaded it with necessary items and left Kenner. I was lucky to be able to fill up the car and then got on I-10 West. Traffic was at a snails pace and after about 9 hours, I reached Breaux Bridge,LA.. I am a diabetic and in my haste to leave, did not take any food with me (ironically, I did take dog food for Vida) so when I began to feel weak, I pulled over into the Mobil Truck Stop in Breaux Bridge. As I got out of the car, a woman in a truck stop uniform came up to me and said, \"you don\'t look so good\" I told her I needed to get some sugar and she took Vida from me and instructed me to go to the restaurant and ask the cook to give me something to eat. I downed the free meal and came back outside. She told me not to go because she was trying to find me a place to stay the night, as it was late in the evening. I waited and soon a Breaux Bridge police officer came by and told me to follow him to the American Legion Hall as it was about to be opened as a shelter. I did so,and when we got there, no one was around! He told me to park and wait till the commander came. After a half hour, a truck drove up. It was the post commander, Eric Cormier. Eric brought me inside and we sat at a table for him to get my personal information. After I told him I was a former Army veteran and had worked for the Bureau Of Veteran\'s Affairs for 32 years, he said \"You are a gift from heaven!\" He continued, \"You see we have no one to manage the shelter as there is really no hurricane threat here and we\'re (legion members) all at work. He also menioned. \"We\'ve never done this kind of thing before ,so your expertise may be helpful\". Then he asked,\"could you run the shelter for us?\" Of course I said \"Yes\". and he proceeded to show me around the building and how everything worked. He left later saying he would check with me tonight after work to see how things are going. After a while some evacuees arrived and the process of lodging started. In a nutshell, I ran the shelter during 3.5 days it was open and eventually had about 80 evacuees in attendance. After the shelter closed, I was welcomed to stay at the private home of the AL Adjutant Commander, Jackie Segura, which I did (three weeks) until Kenner was reopened to returnee\'s.\r\n\r\nEric, Jackie,and their families will remain in a special place in my heart forever! I likewise will never forget the hospitality shown me and Vida from the Mobil Truck Stop, the American Legion and the people of Breaux Bridge, Parks and St. Martinville, LA. I might add that there were several local church groups that visited our shelter during the period we were there and brought wonderful home cooked meals and other needful supplies. \r\n\r\nI think of them all daily!