Gloria Estefan to visit with Katrina victims

updated 6:32 p.m. ET Sept. 11, 2005

MIAMI - Grammy-winning singer Gloria Estefan, actors Jimmy Smits and Andy Garcia, and trumpeter Arturo Sandoval will lead a contingent of Hispanic-American entertainers on a visit with victims of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi.

The visit, planned for Monday, will include delivery of a planeload of supplies and toys to shelters in the Mississippi cities of Long Beach and Biloxi, and Baton Rouge, La. The group also will stress the importance of blood donorship.

Estefan and her producer husband Emilio organized the trip, which also was expected to feature singer Jon Secada, and television personalities Daisy Fuentes and Don Francisco, host of “Sabado Gigante,” the popular Spanish-language variety show on Univision.

“The separation of families to me is very close to my heart because we lived that as immigrants,” said Gloria Estefan, a Cuban-American like Sandoval and Garcia.

“I am privileged to help in some way and I will always take that opportunity,” she said.

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