| Alief, Texas - State Representative Hubert Vo today was honored by the Vietnamese Community of Louisiana for his ongoing efforts to find food, shelter, and relief for more than 20,000 Vietnamese American who were evacuated in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
"Hubert was there in our hour of need and continues to work tirelessly to help all of us put our lives back together," said Quan Huynh, President of the Louisiana Vietnamese Community.
Vo received the recognition during a program on Friday in Houston.
Approximately 15,000 Vietnamese Americans were among the evacuees who arrived in Houston after Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of southern Louisiana. Another 5,000 took shelter in the Bayou City after being displaced by Hurricane Rita.
Quan said that Vo helped raise more than $500,000 in emergency funds to help evacuees in the Houston area and played a key role on Mayor Bill White's task force provide aid, housing, food, clothing, health care, jobs, and other assistance.
The majority of Vietnamese American evacuees were sheltered in southwest Houston, across town from the Disaster Relief Center. A shortage of translators also challenged officials in their relief efforts, Quan said.
Today's award credited Vo with finding an office building in the southwest area of the city and arranging to set up relief efforts there, relieving the pressure on the central relief center.
In addition, Vo arranged for a mobile health unit that specializing in children's care to provide check-ups and shots for hundreds of evacuee children.
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