Marie Moore begins a trip Saturday, Nov. 3, not knowing where she'll end up or what she'll be doing. Only one thing is certain: she will be helping people on the East Coast to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.

Moore, an exercise science major at UW-Superior, is in the midst of an 800-hour internship with the Northland Chapter of the American Red Cross in Duluth. She requested the Red Cross deploy her along with its other volunteers to assist people in storm-damaged areas.

"I've always had a desire to help people," she said.

Moore's first destination is Charleston, S.C. From there she will be sent to wherever her skills are needed. For up to 21 days she'll be on the ground to help with what the Red Cross terms "mass care" - feeding and sheltering people.

However, because she also had training in feed preparation and distribution, Moore's assignment could change depending on the needs of the area where she ends up working.

Moore, who is from Osceola, Wis., is gearing her academic program and internship toward disaster response. She was helping the Northland Chapter to plan a disaster response training program for next spring when Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast.

Judy Gonzalez, executive director of the Northland Chapter, said the Red Cross is interested in internship partnerships with institutions like UW-Superior and works hard to give interns a valuable experience, such as disaster relief missions.

The Red Cross is deploying 3,900 volunteers to the 10-state area affected by Hurricane Sandy.