It’s been more than a month since Super Typhoon Sinlaku made landfall on Saipan and Tinian, and the islands are still facing devastation and trying to get back on their feet. Alongside hundreds of volunteers, Louisiana’s own Dr. Levon LeBan has been on the ground helping them do it.

When Sinlaku slammed into the Mariana Islands, the destruction was immediate and overwhelming. Even a month after the initial impacts, electricity remained out across both islands, hundreds of residents were displaced and only half of Saipan had running water. With infrastructure and homes destroyed, cleanup is underway, but the road to recovery will be long for many families.

Into this landscape of need stepped hundreds of American Red Cross workers, including four volunteers from the Louisiana Region: Dr. Levon LeBan, Moses Ledee, Deb Gibson and Steve Barge. They joined teams providing food, shelter, supplies, emotional support and recovery assistance to families who lost nearly everything.

For LeBan, a longtime volunteer who has deployed to countless disasters across the country since joining the Red Cross in 2016, this mission was both familiar and deeply personal.

“This is my first time in Saipan, but my second time in Guam,” he said. He previously deployed to the region in 2023 after Typhoon Mawar, supporting many of the same families now facing another devastating storm.

During the Sinlaku response, LeBan served as a Community Engagement Liaison, a role that placed him directly in the heart of the community. His mission was to build partnerships, connect organizations and help ensure that resources reached the people who needed them most.

“We connect people who need help to people who can help,” he said. “We go out seeking those who may be interested in partnerships.”

One example came during his visit to a local Seventh-day Adventist church, which also operates a small dental clinic. During that visit, LeBan helped secure a donation of toothbrushes that were distributed to families staying in Red Cross shelters.

LeBan spent time with leaders across the islands, including the president of the local Islamic Association. His goal was always the same: reach people who might otherwise be overlooked.

“When I go out into the communities, I find people who are underserved who may not know the Red Cross was here. When we go out, we must understand culture. People eat different things, people have different customs, and we always do our best to be culturally competent because all cultures are different.”

But beneath those differences, he said, is a shared humanity and a desire to help each other meet urgent needs.

Disaster work rarely comes at convenient times. LeBan remembers being deployed to Kentucky on Christmas Eve after a devastating tornado.

“My friends said, ‘But it’s Christmas.’ I said, ‘But it’s Christmas there too.’”

People often ask him why he keeps volunteering to leave his home, miss holidays and give up everyday comforts to serve strangers.

“I’m paying it forward. Because it’s not if we’re going to get another hurricane, it’s when,” LeBan said. “I also want people to know that Louisiana is in the house.”

His steady, compassionate spirit, rooted in service, is what drives him year-round, whether he’s responding to disasters close to home or halfway across the globe.

As Saipan and Tinian continue the long journey toward recovery, the Red Cross remains committed to supporting families every step of the way. Volunteers like LeBan remind us what that commitment looks like in action: partnership, presence and a belief that even in the hardest moments, compassion can carry people forward.