On Friday night, I decided that I just couldn\'t watch the devastation on the news any longer. \r\n\r\nAfter calling the San Antonio Red Cross headquarters and not being able to get through, I simply drove straight there and walked through the front door offering to volunteer. I was immediately sent to the old Levi Strauss factory on old highway 90 to set up a new shelter for incoming evacuees. Before we could set up all the cots, they were already coming in by the bus load. \r\n\r\nMost of these people had nothing but the clothes on their backs, and even that was scarce. Many didn\'t even have shoes. I speak in past tense because in the last 36 hours, our community has pulled together to supply that shelter in ways that I\'d never thought possible. \r\n\r\nWithin 4 hours of their arrival, Whataburger brought in nearly 1,000 burger & fry meals. While most of the evacuees had never had Whataburger before, I\'m quite sure they\'ll never forget it! One little boy actually stopped in the food line when he got his meal, sat down on the floor, and began to eat as if he\'d forgotten the taste of food. \r\n\r\nAt nearly 6:00 am, I finally took a break, slept, refreshed, and went back to the shelter Saturday evening. In that 12 hours that I was gone, the shelter had gone from a warehouse with nothing but cots, people, and some much-needed food, to a real house of miracles. \r\n\r\nSan Antonians have brought in truck-loads of clothing, blankets, pillows, baby supplies, and toys, toys, toys for the children. I could not believe how quickly all those supplies were moved in and distributed. \r\n\r\nLittle Caesar\'s brought in stacks and stacks of pizzas, HEB donated tons of water, juices, foods, and other supplies, Wal-Mart also donated supplies, someone brought in 5 big-screen TVs for everyone to watch the news and movies on, there was a row of computers with internet connection, and about ten times as many volunteers around to help out, as well as the Army National Guard camping out in the parking lot. \r\n\r\nThis show of support for our neighboring New Orleanians is truly impressive, and I\'m proud to be a part of it. If anyone else out there is sick of watching all this on the news, I\'d encourage you all to either show up at a shelter (they just opened a new one at Windsor mall), or call, or go to the San Antonio Red Cross headquarters for further instruction. \r\n\r\nNot everyone (especially poor college students like me) has supplies or money to donate, but we can still pitch in and help our neighbors get back on their feet. Let\'s welcome our neighbors to San Antonio as best we can. \r\n\r\nhttp://www.saredcross.org/office.asp \r\n\r\n-- J. Erlandsen\r\n\r\noriginally collected by University of Texas, San Antonio\r\nhttp://www.utsa.edu/today/hurricane/ShareKatrinaStories.htm