Albion College students Katy Van de Putte and Julia McCormick hanging
drywall in the lower half of a kitchen. Although this
Pascagoula-area house was not in a flood plain, the 30-foot storm surge
forced itself up local water channels, and caused extensive flooding
even a mile inland. Becky Meyerholz
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In the Middle of
the (FEMA) Blue Sea
Albion Volunteers Spend Spring
Break On Katrina Relief
March 29, 2006
Story by Jake Weber
Nearly seven months after Hurricane
Katrina obliterated communities along the Gulf coast, an Albion group traveled
to Mississippi to help with the continuing relief effort. The 27 students,
faculty, staff, parents and community members discovered that there was still
much left to do.
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Students examine a part of a major Biloxi thoroughfare that was damaged
during the hurricane. Thom Wilch photo |
As we approached the airport, from
the plane there was just a sea of blue FEMA tarps covering roofs that hadn't yet
been repaired," noted geology professor Chris Van de Ven. The Albion contingent traveled to
Pascagoula, Miss., area, east of coastal cities Biloxi and Gulfport.
An Albion work crew with Pascagoula homeowners (kneeing and in pink
shirt). "The number of volunteers we had, as a proportion of
our student body, was pretty impressive," said student organizer Rachel
Lippert (second from left). "It was amazing to see that the
people of Albion—in the community and on campus—want to help out in any
way we can. We are inspired to give back through volunteering—and we
have fun doing it." Photo courtesy of Rachel Lippert
"There is something to be said about
the manner in which we Southerners embrace people and take them in,"
said South Carolina junior and Student Senate president Meagan Burton,
reflecting on the local support for the work groups. "At 6:30 in
the morning, the men of the church where we were staying would come in
and cook breakfast for us. The women would fix meals for us when we got
back from our work sites at the end of the day. They told us how
grateful they were for our help. And ours was just one of many groups
that they had hosted." Chris Van de Ven photo |
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Although they were a mile or more inland from the coast, the three Albion work
crews roofed a homeand worked to restore the interiors of houses that had
sustained flood damage.
"Some of the homeowners we helped
were elderly and ill, and they particularly loved the energy and exuberance of
our college students," said Thomas Hunsdorfer, assistant to Albion College
President Peter Mitchell. "By the end of the week, there were many tearful
goodbyes."Although the trip is over, the group
is not disbanding and are already making plans to return for two weeks in
January 2007. "They haven't even picked up all the garbage, much less started
work on all the houses that are damaged," said Albion College junior Austin Gee.
"I hope we can take even more students on the next trip. There's plenty we can
do there."
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