"Cos, Mary and I left BC Jan. 12th with eighteen other student-athletes headed for New Orleans on the SAAC service trip. Two flights and a van ride later, we were at the Katrina Relief Fund headquarters in Poplarville, MS (so in the middle of nowhere that we didn’t show up on GPS). We ended up sleeping on mattresses in a chapel attached to the shelter (just one huge slover, actually really fun), we had no hot water (or running water, for that matter), and there was a little rat-dog named Shorty who ran the place- but no one cared because we ate like kings, thanks to Dominic. Dominic is a chef who left his restaurant after Katrina to volunteer and work in the area’s homeless shelters. One night he even brought us to the restaurant he started with his friend, Ricky, and we got to sample real Cajun food! Crawfish, fried gator, jumbalaya, gumbo, catfish, crab cakes- DELICIOUS!!
Wednesday and Thursday, we helped the Katrina Relief Fund catch up on its office work. We placed hundreds of calls and sorted hundreds of files for families still in need- even six years after the hurricane. We weren’t doing the things you see on the Red Cross commercials, but the director, Kathleen, made a good point- helping people back to normalcy includes the nitty-gritty things like following up with their work-orders (even years later, and when their numbers are disconnected) and just being a supportive listener. It was especially satisfying when one woman (one of Mary’s calls, TWO POINTS) called back, and we were able to go finish painting her house! The staff was really grateful to us for helping them get through in days what would have taken them months.
We also got to do some demolition, which was a nice change of pace. On Friday we cleared out a building that will serve as another headquarters for the Katrina Relief Fund and then tore down an enormous volunteer center (think a few of “the Hut” on Newton) that was on the grounds of an elementary school/youth center. Now that life is getting back to normal and there isn’t the same need for volunteers, the locals want to bring their children back to this school and be able to use the ball fields and library that were decimated by Katrina. So we burned old structures and storage buildings and did away with a ton of garbage, helping them clear space to start reseeding fields and repairing the original buildings.
On Saturday we left Poplarville to visit Liz McCartney (BC ’94) who was the CNN Hero of the Year in 2008. She received this award for her work starting the St. Bernard Project, a non-profit that puts families from New Orleans’ 9th Ward back into their homes. We finished the morning driving through the 9th Ward, which was pretty intense. Here and there were houses that were either rebuilt or in the process of rebuilding, though, which was good to see.
We had an incredible experience down in Mississippi/Louisiana- the people’s resilience and pride was inspiring. We met some incredible people down there, and hopefully we did more good than trouble (the screaming Catchphrase matches probably didn’t endear us to the shelter’s residents). Plus we got to tour Tulane and then Bourbon Street (!!!!) on the last night, when there was a Saints playoff game (HOW BOUT DEM SAINTS?!?). But best of all, we got to know a completely different group of people- athletes we see every day in Conte but never really get the chance to meet! So much fun, so glad I got to take part in this trip!"
