Students aid Louisiana, Texas hurricane relief effort
Maria Gardner-Lara
Issue date: 1/16/06 Section: News
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Media Credit: ASBStudents aid in rebuilding homes damaged by Rita and Katrina during winter break.
For a week, while most students were catching up on sleep, others, involved in Alternative Spring Break (ASB) and New Life Volunteer Society (NLVS), were in Louisiana and Texas, giving their time in the Hurricane Rita relief effort.
"It was listening to Chicago Public Radio of the social injustice being uncovered by Hurricane Katrina that really caught my focus on the area. [It] made me want to help out," said Eugene Aquino, fourth year philosophy major and key organizer of the trip.
According to Aquino, it was very difficult to find an organization to host them. After weeks of searching for an organization and no email replies, Disciple Volunteering offered to host ASB. Disciple Volunteering is located in Lake Charles, the western part of Louisiana that was hit not only by Hurricane Rita but also by a tornado in some parts.
Their need was for volunteers to help with debris for the second phase of the clean up. And so on December 10, with a 16 hour drive ahead of them, Aquino, as well as Hope Benson, Gina LaMontagne, Mee Wai Lam, Oisin Kenny, and Shashank Sarvepalli began their trip. They stayed in 1st Christian Lake Chapel, of Disciples of Christ denomination, even though ASB is non-denominational.
In trailer parks, the volunteers manually picked up tin roofs, branches, leaves, washing machines, refrigerators and brought them to the side of the road where FEMA can pick them up.
"About four trailer homes were shredded completely by the tornado. The people helped were elders, or had serious health problems," Aquino said.
For Aquino, the most memorable moment of the trip was when the pastor of the church, Mona Lisa Garet cried giving thanks for their help.
"It was still nice to know that people still care for us. Whether or not you realize it [ASB] has made a huge impact on the lives of the people they helped today," Garet said.
ASB found the people from Louisiana were very kind and generous. Three individuals treated the group to jambalaya and other traditional foods of the area, and were always willing to introduce the region distinct culture traditions.
While ASB was in Louisiana, NLVS was helping in the hurricane recovery effort in Port Arthur, Texas. Their host organization was 1st Christian Central Baptist.
Jeanne Lee, Angela Asprec, Tiffany France, Atena Lodhi, and Maham Lodhi were contributing to the effort by chopping down fallen trees and then dragging pieces to the curbs for FEMA to pick up. They also put up a fence, a railing, and put installation in a home.
"We just wanted to help out and get first hand experience. It was interesting to see houses that had considerable damage to their roofs with blue tarps over them. Getting lumber was a problem, because there were long lines in the hardware stores. A lot of places can't get their roofs fixed till March," Lee, co-chair for disaster relief committee said.
Lee found incredible kindness in the people. One morning she recounts people from the church served them grits, while little old ladies passed out Mardi Gras beads.
"Throughout the whole trip, what was learned most was the simple thought 'cherish what you have,'" Lee said.
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"It was listening to Chicago Public Radio of the social injustice being uncovered by Hurricane Katrina that really caught my focus on the area. [It] made me want to help out," said Eugene Aquino, fourth year philosophy major and key organizer of the trip.
According to Aquino, it was very difficult to find an organization to host them. After weeks of searching for an organization and no email replies, Disciple Volunteering offered to host ASB. Disciple Volunteering is located in Lake Charles, the western part of Louisiana that was hit not only by Hurricane Rita but also by a tornado in some parts.
Their need was for volunteers to help with debris for the second phase of the clean up. And so on December 10, with a 16 hour drive ahead of them, Aquino, as well as Hope Benson, Gina LaMontagne, Mee Wai Lam, Oisin Kenny, and Shashank Sarvepalli began their trip. They stayed in 1st Christian Lake Chapel, of Disciples of Christ denomination, even though ASB is non-denominational.
In trailer parks, the volunteers manually picked up tin roofs, branches, leaves, washing machines, refrigerators and brought them to the side of the road where FEMA can pick them up.
"About four trailer homes were shredded completely by the tornado. The people helped were elders, or had serious health problems," Aquino said.
For Aquino, the most memorable moment of the trip was when the pastor of the church, Mona Lisa Garet cried giving thanks for their help.
"It was still nice to know that people still care for us. Whether or not you realize it [ASB] has made a huge impact on the lives of the people they helped today," Garet said.
ASB found the people from Louisiana were very kind and generous. Three individuals treated the group to jambalaya and other traditional foods of the area, and were always willing to introduce the region distinct culture traditions.
While ASB was in Louisiana, NLVS was helping in the hurricane recovery effort in Port Arthur, Texas. Their host organization was 1st Christian Central Baptist.
Jeanne Lee, Angela Asprec, Tiffany France, Atena Lodhi, and Maham Lodhi were contributing to the effort by chopping down fallen trees and then dragging pieces to the curbs for FEMA to pick up. They also put up a fence, a railing, and put installation in a home.
"We just wanted to help out and get first hand experience. It was interesting to see houses that had considerable damage to their roofs with blue tarps over them. Getting lumber was a problem, because there were long lines in the hardware stores. A lot of places can't get their roofs fixed till March," Lee, co-chair for disaster relief committee said.
Lee found incredible kindness in the people. One morning she recounts people from the church served them grits, while little old ladies passed out Mardi Gras beads.
"Throughout the whole trip, what was learned most was the simple thought 'cherish what you have,'" Lee said.