ELCA NEWS SERVICE
February 26, 2007
College-Age Lutherans Head to U.S. Gulf Coast for Spring Break
07-026-MRC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- More than 800 college and university
students from across the country are traveling to the U.S. Gulf
Coast during spring break to rebuild homes damaged during the
2005 hurricane season. Through "What a Relief!" -- an
opportunity for students and others in campus communities to get
involved in disaster relief work -- some students said that
volunteer work was a "life-changing" experience.
Ryan J. Martin, a student at Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory,
N.C., said engaging in disaster response work in St. Bernard
Parish, near New Orleans, was important work. On Aug. 29, 2005,
the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over the eastern portion of
St. Bernard Parish. The hurricane produced a 25-foot storm
surge, destroying the levees there. Almost the entire parish was
flooded, with most areas sustaining 5 to 12 feet of standing
water.
"It's hard to realize that something that drastic can really
happen," said Martin, who worked alongside other students and
residents of St. Bernard Parish in 2006, when What a Relief!
began.
"The opportunity to help out fellow citizens was awesome,"
said Martin. "To see the joy and happiness that people
possessed, despite having lost everything, was life-changing for
me. (The experience) changed everything in life that I view as
important. Relationships with people are so much more valuable
and sustaining" than material possessions, which "our society
views as a big part of life," he said.
Martin said two homes he and others worked on "sat under 13
feet of water. We removed everything -- sinks, carpet,
appliances, furniture, cabinets and drywall. The homes were
cleaned to the studs," he said. "Every day we were covered from
head to toe in stagnant mud and drywall dust."
"We worked hard for five straight days" and "walked away
changed," said Martin. "At the end of the trip I found it hard
to leave. To walk away from (people here) was very difficult for
me. I felt like I was short-changing them in going back to my
air-conditioned apartment with running water and a solid roof
over my head. All they have is a 20-foot camper in their front
yard. Every morning they get up to look at the awful sight of
everything they owned in shambles. I have made it my pledge to
(the people of St. Bernard Parish) to inform everyone I run
across that this area is in desperate need of help," he said.
"We, as fellow citizens, need to take care of each other."
With four other students from Lenoir-Rhyne College, Martin
is returning March 4-10 to St. Bernard Parish through What a
Relief! "I hope that things (in St. Bernard Parish) have changed
for the better," he said. Lenoir-Rhyne is one of 28 colleges and
universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA).
Abby Norduane, a second-year student at Valparaiso
University, Valparaiso, Ind., will be among a group of eight
students and two advisors scheduled to work in the greater New
Orleans area March 3-10 under What a Relief! Valparaiso is an
independent Lutheran university.
"This trip is one of two that students involved in
(Valparaiso's) Social Action Leadership Team (SALT) had a choice"
to participate in during spring break, said Norduane, who serves
as secretary and volunteer coordinator for SALT. "We chose this
trip because we feel that it embraces our call to action as
Christians and embraces SALT's passion and focus on social
justice," she said.
"We hope that students come back with an enhanced
perspective on social justice and are encouraged to seek out
avenues in which to enhance their call to action and passion for
social justice," said Norduane.
Based here, Lutheran Disaster Response -- a ministry of the
ELCA and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod -- coordinates What a
Relief! Student volunteer groups are organized through campus
ministry centers, community service organizations and other
entities. Students participating in the 2007 What a Relief!
effort represent some 34 U.S. colleges and universities, 13 of
which are affiliated with the ELCA. They will work in Alabama,
Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas between February 25 and
March 31.
"Over the (past) year, the work that our volunteers is doing
has changed somewhat," said Michael D. Nevergall, associate for
program interpretation, Lutheran Disaster Response. Many of the
students who volunteered last spring gutted "homes to prepare
them for repairs. Now that many houses have been gutted, the
students will be helping to rebuild by hanging new sheets of
drywall, painting new interior walls and replacing roofing
shingles. The groups have been asked to include skilled
volunteers from their communities who will help accompany, teach
and supervise (the students) in their work. For returning
participants who were gutting homes last spring, these tasks will
be a neat way to bring their work full circle," he said.
- - -
Information about the work of Lutheran Disaster Response is
at http://www.ldr.org on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
