Elizabeth Mix spent her Spring Break among the sound of clanking hammers to help rebuild homes of Hurricane Katrina victims in Chalmette, La.
Along with a group of volunteering students from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Mix, a student activities associate, worked to clean up neighborhoods, build homes and plant trees in the New Orleans area.
Mix said the trip not only benefits the people of New Orleans, but also the volunteering students.
‘We all learn so much about ourselves and the generosity people have even when they have lost everything,’ Mix said.
The trip was part of a Spring Break tradition started by Mix three years ago through the volunteer organization Operation Southern Comfort. This trip marks the 39th excursion to New Orleans that Operation Southern Comfort has organized, according to a March 9 ESF news release.
‘The area that is in the greatest need right now is the area that we work in,’ said Norman Andrzejewski, the head of Operation Southern Comfort.
Twenty-five students and three alumni participated in the trip and spent nine days in New Orleans working with a variety of volunteers, including students from Syracuse University and SUNY Oswego.
‘People become really exhilarated that they were able to be productive and helpful,’ Andrzejewski said, ‘They say basically that this is a life-changing experience, they are glad they came and they are really moved by the thank-you’s from the community members they are helping.’
Sophomore Kelly Bell said she spent the majority of her time working on various volunteer projects, such as planting flowers, rebuilding homes and planting trees to soak up city water after future hurricanes.
‘The best part of the trip was staying in the communities and seeing people so grateful for what we had just done for them,’ she said.
Volunteers also rave about the delicious home-cooked meals community members give them in return for their work, Andrzejewski said.
J.P. Tucci, a sophomore at ESF, had communicated with his roommates Bell and Amanda Kaier, who have participated in the program for two years, throughout their trip. He said he thinks it is a particularly great way to give back to a community because it is very individualized.
‘They get to know the community members and actually meet the people whose houses they are building since they are being fed and housed in the community,’ Tucci said.
The students’ expenses for the trip were paid for in part by a $500 donation from the ESF Alumni Association.
Andrzejewski said planting trees to help shield New Orleans from potentially destructive elements of the weather, like strong winds from a hurricane, is another way volunteers help the communities.
Mix said the group also learned a lot about the pride of the New Orleans residents and why they chose to stay despite losing nearly everything.
Said Mix: ‘Our work is only one piece of the puzzle.’
smhazlit@syr.edu