ATLANTA - Yesterday Oglethorpe President Larry Schall, his wife Betty Londergan and two Oglethorpe students went to Baton Rouge and Mansfield, Louisiana, on two separate missions with Angel Flight of Georgia, Oglethorpe’s partner in hurricane relief.

Schall traveled with junior Rachael Maddux to Mansfield to deliver supplies and help feed recent evacuees from New Orleans. They took boxes of food, medicine and personal hygiene products to a shelter outside of Mansfield. They were met at the airport by the mayor of Mansfield and the pastor of the church where the shelter is located. A busload of evacuees had arrived at the shelter the night before, still wet from the flood waters that remain in New Orleans. Schall and Maddux spoke with the evacuees, distributed the supplies and helped prepare a meal for those removed from their homes by the National Guard. Schall noted that one of the girls at the shelter was wearing house slippers he had sent down earlier Thursday through Angel Flight.

Londergan flew to Baton Rouge with senior Luis Dominguez, a New Orleans native, to deliver supplies and pick up Roberto Gimenez, a displaced University of New Orleans student who is now enrolled at Oglethorpe. Dominguez, a child of the 9th ward, has heard from all of his family that was in New Orleans. They are scattered among Atlanta, Houston and Baton Rouge. His high school friend Gimenez was studying at the University of New Orleans until the city was devastated by Katrina. Gimenez was recently accepted into Oglethorpe and was searching for a way to get to Atlanta. Flying back with Angel Flight changed his life because he never expected this level of assistance.

Schall and Londergan previously flew to Baton Rouge over the Labor Day weekend and hope to continue assisting hurricane survivors as long as help is needed. Oglethorpe is accepting donations of goods and money in the President’s Office (Lupton Hall, 4484 Peachtree Road, NE). All donated items will be transported to Angel Flight for distribution. A listing of requested items, updated daily, can be found on the Angel Flight website. For more information, visit www.oglethorpe.edu or call 404-364-8868.