The new New Orleans Spring Break vacation

     Katrina is now a  household name after all the destruction that has reigned over the Northern parts of the Gulf Coast since the hurricane of the same name struck in August 2005.  It has now been over a year and a half, yet people are still going to the area to assist in the recovery efforts.
     Several students from GCSU spent their Spring break serving others, rather than doing typical vacations like relaxing on a beach or camping in the mountains.  Different organizations hosted trips to some of the sites hit hardest by Katrina and various other storms. 
     “The city still looks like a storm hit a week ago, but we were able to contribute work and experience people who are working to change that,” said Ashley Bohanon, a senior mass communication major.
     Bohanon spent her Spring break in New Orleans, though it was hardly a leisurely vacation—if anything, it was a vacation away from normal life.  She went down with a team of students associated with Campus Outreach. 
     The team went with the specific goal of aiding Mo Leverett, an urban community reformer originally from Macon.
     “I remember going to my home and finding all the things that are priceless to me in this world, and throwing them into a heaping pile of trash,” Leverett said as he recalled his experiences immediately after the storm had blown through. 
     Leverett had been a resident of the Desire Street community in New Orleans, one of the most violent and poverty stricken areas in the nation, for nearly 20 years before the hurricane shredded his community and forced the people to disperse elsewhere.  During his time in the community, he was successful in establishing programs for troubled youth and needy families.  He was also a coach for the local high school football team, which gave him the opportunity to directly impact some of the underprivileged young people in this area that he voluntarily chose to move into. 
     Like most other residents of the city, Katrina has really changed Leverett.
     “Fulfillment in life is not measured by what you gain or accumulate in material wealth or prestige, but in what you sacrifice toward a cause greater than yourself,” Leverett said.
Since Katrina wiped out most of Desire Street, Leverett was forced to begin work on creating a new community outreach, aptly named Rebirth.    
     Another team including participants from Baptist Colligate Ministries (BCM) and Lakeside Baptist Church, went into the Upper Ninth Ward in the sect known as the Musicians’ Village.  The participants partnered with the New Orleans Area Housing (NOAH) Foundation, and Habitat for Humanity to help rebuild and restore houses in the area.  They put siding on houses, painted, did some roofing and built sheds.  The group consisted of a little over 40 students from GCSU. 
     Aside from working on houses, Jessica Cronic, a sophomore education major, spent much of her spare time playing inspirational and spiritually themed music on parts of the famous Bourbon Street.  Rebecca Croft, a sophomore nursing major, accompanied her and together they raised nearly $70 to donate to the NOAH foundation.
     Gregg Kaufman, of the Coverdell Institute at GCSU, took eight students down to Port Charlotte, Fla., as partners with Lutheran Disaster Response.  There they helped in the rebuilding process that has been underway since a barrage of storms has continuously crippled the community since 2004.  All together, there has been eight storms that have affected the area, including some minimal abuse from Katrina. 
     “It was so neat to see several non-profit organizations come together to respond to the critical need of the community after such unfortunate natural disasters,” Kaufman said. 
     According to Break Away, an Atlanta-based non-profit that assists students and college organizations in planning trips of this nature, an estimated 35,000 college students across the nation will participate in similar service-oriented trips during their Spring break.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 13 2007. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry