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George Huff may have lost the 2004 American Idol competition to Fantasia Barrino, but that didn't stop the New Orleans native from flashing his brilliant smile. Television viewers and Idol judges alike were won over by the soulful singer's contagious joy, which earned him the nickname "Smiling George."

Last August, however, George's famous joy was temporarily replaced by anxiety when Hurricane Katrina devastated his hometown. His mother and sister left town for Dallas, Texas, the Sunday before Katrina hit, but other members of his large family were forced to stay behind. George's father, who is divorced from George's mom, later described to him the view in the front of his house when the storm came. The waters blew his windows in immediately, and pushed the front door open. "A lot of my family didn't make it out in time," George told TC, "but they were rescued from their homes and went to the Superdome. I praise the Lord that we all eventually got out safely."

Still, George's heart is heavy for New Orleans and the other communities that were ravaged by Katrina. "Knowing that place is never going to be the same changes everything," he says.

Born and raised in the city's projects, George went home shortly after Katrina to check on his family. While there, he did interviews with The 700 Club and Inside Edition. He said his intention was to offer hope and bring attention to the crisis, but it quickly became a contemplative occasion for the singer. "I thought of the past of New Orleans, the history. There were a lot of corrupt things that needed to be corrected," he says, pointing to the high murder rate and the poor school system. "The thing that shocked me the most wasn't so much that the storm wiped a lot of stuff away, it was the fact that when these people were in the Superdome, there was organized crime inside of the building. That was a bigger problem to me."

But George said he's still grateful, especially for the rescue of his dad, who just two years ago was battling kidney failure. "He was in a coma when I was on American Idol," George says. "My stepbrother gave him a kidney, and the Lord delivered him. And now he's survived Katrina as well. We have a lot to be thankful for."

And that gratitude is more than evident on George's first full-length CD, Miracles. The appropriately named debut single, "Brighter Day," reminds George that God gives us hope for a better tomorrow. It's a promise he holds onto as he looks at his hometown today. "I think the Lord is going to use Katrina to clean the city and to make it a place of peace," he says. "The Bible says that Christ's body has many members, but we all form one body. I feel that the Lord is calling for a unified body. He's given the church an opportunity to step up to the plate and to be of service to the people who were affected by the hurricanes, and to make sure there is no one left without." Along with volunteering his time to help clean up New Orleans, George and his label, Word Records, also pitched in by donating proceeds from the sale of "Brighter Day" to Katrina relief efforts.

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