Actress and Scientology Volunteer Minister decides to dedicate her service to the Las Vegas Community

Las Vegas - Cassandra Hepburn, 33, who recently returned from 12 days on the Scientology Disaster Relief Response Team in Haiti, has joined staff at the new Church of Scientology and Celebrity Centre in Las Vegas. The actress, who appeared in the Quentin Tarantino film "Hellride" and the daytime dramas "The Young and the Restless" and "As the World Turns," is eager to assume her new position at the Church to serve the Las Vegas community.

The volunteer service in Haiti on the Scientology Disaster Response Team changed her life, Hepburn says. Born in the Philippines and raised in London, Hong Kong and Switzerland, she has led no sheltered life, but she says her time in Haiti opened her eyes to what helping others is all about.

Hepburn arrived in Haiti on February 14 aboard a Scientology-sponsored charter flight and immediately joined the team of volunteers helping refugees in three IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps.

"Living conditions for the volunteers and medical professionals were pretty rugged--we slept in tents on cots or in sleeping bags on concrete slabs or hard floors, and we ate MREs (Meals Ready-to-Eat-- food rations that are also used by the United States Armed Forces), but compared to the conditions at the IDP camps this was luxurious," she said. In the IDP camps, entire families live out in the open, their only protection from the elements a sheet or a tarp suspended from a branch. "Unless we act now to provide shelter for the refugees there will be devastation during the upcoming rainy season."

Hepburn's assignment in Haiti also included working in local orphanages with a team of medical professionals who provided checkups while volunteers gave food and toys to the children. "They were so happy to see that someone cared," she said.

Back in Las Vegas, Hepburn is approaching her new position as a staff member of the Church of Scientology of Las Vegas with renewed spirit, taking her inspiration from Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard who wrote, "A being is only as valuable as he can serve others."

^{"Happiness and strength endure only in the absence of hate. To hate alone is the road to disaster. To love is the road to strength. To love in spite of all is the secret of greatness. And may very well be the greatest secret in this universe." L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Scientology Religion.}

Ayal Lindeman - Scientology Volunteer Minister and EMT

NBC Connecticut

Earthquake Victim Gets Special CT Treatment

By AMANDA RAUS

Updated 4:34 PM EST, Mon, Feb 22, 2010

Ralph-Marie Gedeon, 22, lost his leg in the Haiti earthquake and is a little closer to walking once again after being carried off the airplane.

The Haitian native spent two days trapped under the rubble in the devastating earthquake that hit the country last month as his father desperately tried to set him free.

“His father, day one, started digging for him and couldn’t quite get to him, so came back day two with a few of his friends and literally, with no special tools but his hands, dug him out of this rubble field and transported him to what’s left of this hospital,” Dr. David Gibson, of the Center for Orthopedics in New Haven, said.

But Gedeon was severely injured. His leg, which was crushed by the debris, had to be amputated, but Gedeon would’ve rather died before giving up his leg, so Ayal Lindeman, the man from Scientology Volunteer Ministers who helped nurse Gedeon back to health, made the young man a promise.

“He calls me and says, ‘Can you help me with this scenario. If I tell this kid, he’s got my friend of 30 years to take care of him and he’s going to get a leg, a stateside leg, he’ll have the amputation, will you do it?’ What do you say to that? You say thank you for the blessing to be able to help with that,” Gibson said.

Now Gedeon will be under the care of Gibson, an orthopedic surgeon who hopes to give Gedeon a prosthetic leg and the ability to walk once again.

All of his services, the prosthesis and the hospital stay at the Hospital of Saint Raphael will all be free of cost, as was the ambulance ride from the airport.

“The opportunity to do something like this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience; it’s a blessing to be able to do,” said Dr. Gibson.

^{-----
"Happiness and strength endure only in the absence of hate. To hate alone is the road to disaster. To love is the road to strength. To love in spite of all is the secret of greatness. And may very well be the greatest secret in this universe." L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Scientology Religion.}