Ellen's Mission Of Mirth

Ellen DeGeneres' Aunt Helen is 82 years old and just about all she has right now are four pieces of silverware and four pictures from her house.

That's because Aunt Helen's home in Pass Christian, Miss., has been destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Now, her famous niece, herself a native of Louisiana, is planning to help as many victims as possible by hosting a telethon: "Shelter From the Storm," to air simultaneously on all the broadcast networks Friday, Sept. 9, at 8 p.m.

In an interview with The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen, DeGeneres says she has been shifting from laughter to tears as she gets ready for three major events: the telethon, the Emmys (which she is hosting this year) and the season premiere of her talk show.

"My family's in Mississippi and they have lost everything, and my friends have lost everything," she says. "And so, you know, it's a lot. And now I just feel just numb. I mean, my heart breaks for these people that are still stuck there."

DeGeneres is, of course, particularly thinking of her Aunt Helen, who is her mother's sister. The comedian herself grew up in New Orleans, where her family used to prepare for hurricanes frequently.

"I have memories of my dad boarding up windows and taping windows," she says, "and my aunt lost her house once before in (Hurricane) Camille, and they rebuilt, and now her son lives in that house, and we spent all of our weekends in the summers there."

Like many Americans, she is riveted to the images that are coming from the hurricane zone, shocked that no help is getting to the people, that there is no food or water for the babies.

"How are they still OK?" she asks. "They don't have any food. It's, you know? It's unbelievable."

It is all the more poignant for DeGeneres because it's her hometown.

"I mean, New Orleans was such a special city," she says. "If anybody visited there, especially if you're from there… you feel like you're part of a club. It is such a great music town and so much culture and so much history -- and I don't know. I don't know how to even feel, because you can't drive back home and -- there's just nothing left."

For her part, when she thought about the contribution she might make, the entertainer says she can "make people laugh. Make people happy. That's what my job is."