Fresno native Brian Van Anne, director of Genesis Family Center's foster care program, left September 6 to spend two weeks volunteering with the Red Cross, helping to provide mental health services to victims of Hurricane Katrina. He will share his experiences each day with Bee readers.

The hallway of the Reliant Center

12:45 P.M. CENTRAL TIME -- Secret Service officers are here prepping the Reliant Center for Vice President Dick Cheney to visit tomorrow.

I spoke with a man in his early 20s who took refuge with his girlfriend in the Superdome when New Orleans flooded. The couple eventually left on foot, walking along an interstate highway until they were picked up and taken to Houston's Reliant Center. He hasn't spoken with his mother since New Orleans flooded and has no idea where she is or whether she's alive. He asked if he should get in line to receive a Red Cross voucher, because his girlfriend had walked across the street to a store and got locked out of the complex this morning. She has with her their paperwork that qualifies them for vouchers.