Soap opera stars tour BR for recovery fund-raiser

Cast members of the CBS daytime television shows "As the World Turns" and "Guiding Light" teamed to host several events last week to raise spirits and money for the victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The cast members talked and signed autographs with shoppers and fans Friday in the Mall of Louisiana as the last stop on their two-day visit to Baton Rouge.

The event was hosted at Lee Michaels Jewelers in the mall. Cast members sold purple-, green- and gold-colored bracelets with the words "relief, rebuild, remember" imprinted on them. Proceeds will go to the American Red Cross.

"It has been a while since I have been back," said Trent Dawson, who plays Henry Coleman on "As the World Turns." "It is a changed city."

Dawson, a Baton Rouge native, said he was anxious to return to his former city and state and provide whatever aid he could.

"It turns out that southern Louisiana is one of our biggest demographics with a lot of fans down there, and they're hurting, so [the producers] said, 'Why don't we send some people down there,'" he said.

Dawson, a graduate of the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts, and five other cast members preceded their Red Cross fund-raiser at the mall with a visit to shelter at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales. They hosted a dinner for evacuees the night before.

The cast members, who put off the trip until almost two months after the storm because of scheduling problems, described the trip as an eye-opening experience.

"When things started to die down, Trent and I both talked about the fact that now would be the perfect time to do it because now that the attention has died down, these evacuees are probably feeling neglected and left out," said Michael Park, who plays Jack Snyder on "As the World Turns."

Park said visiting the shelter was a somber experience.

"There are no words to explain the feelings when you walk into 500 people's bedrooms with all of their medicine cabinets laying around," he said. "It is something that may not be new to your readers, but for us, it is something that we just took for granted - This has been a very moving experience for all of us."

The night before their mall appearance, cast members, in conjunction with the Red Cross and Healing Place Church, arranged for roughly 100 evacuees to enjoy a night of fine dining and entertainment at White Oak plantation in Baton Rouge.

The evacuees, randomly chosen from nearby shelters, enjoyed a night of upscale dining - many of whom had never experienced that before.

"One of the guests said, 'I have to stop and savor the moment; I have never had something this wonderful happen to me in my entire life,'" said Andree Boyd, event organizer and WAFB marketing director. "Some of these people had not smiled in weeks, and they were beaming from ear to ear."

Contact Ryan Grush at rgrush@lsureveille.com