Refreshment
In addition to the refreshment some rain provided, driving to Mississippi today to film a group from Michigan gave me a refreshing perspective on Katrina’s scope. Most of the documentary has, up until this point, focused on volunteers in New Orleans and surrounding parishes. However, seeing this church group work with Camp Victor in Ocean Springs reminded me how necessary volunteers are to the entire region.
Despite a few setbacks, the Michigan group was incredibly efficient in helping the neighborhoods clean up. The first crew I followed painted and cleaned up the yard of a home for the city, and the second crew worked to restore a 108-year-old home to its pre-Katrina status. The strong work ethic of both of these teams was admirable, and the age range (from high school to adult) proved to be proficient.
On my way back to New Orleans, I stopped in Bay St. Louis, Miss., to visit Lagniappe Presbyterian Church. One of the AmeriCorps team members told me about the volunteer work this church coordinates for that region, and it was refreshing to see so much enthusiasm to help the community. Pastor Jean Larroux told me about the groups who came from all over the world to stay at Lagniappe and rebuild the area, and they left their mark (literally) on Bay St. Louis. Each team creates a sign showing where they are from and the distance from their home to their temporary housing at the church. Lagniappe is housed in an old warehouse and is doing some incredible work.
With hope,
Gretchen
Posted on June 25th, 2008 by Gretchen Wieland
Filed under: From Gretchen
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