Students spend break helping hurricane victims

Eleven students traveled by van to southern Mississippi and Louisiana during mid-term break in early March to help in clean-up and rebuilding efforts administered by Hands On Gulf Coast, a disaster response project that was organized after the devastating storm of August 2005. They were led by Deena Kennell, CSC director of internships and career services, and Don King, chairman of the CSC department of education.

King said the students represented Chadron State well during the service learning mission.

“These students worked,” he said. “I was so proud to work beside them. They were not worried at all about getting their hands dirty or breaking a nail.”

One of the most rewarding experiences for the group was to work on the new home of an elderly man whose insurance fell way short of covering damages from the storm. The property owner was a veteran of the Vietnam Conflict who was a highly respected member of the community. A contractor donated the difference to build his new residence, and groups like CSC’s are called upon to help him further reclaim his life.

“This was the experience that made me realize why I was down there,” said Stephanie Frey, a Seward High School graduate who is a senior studying business at CSC.

During the journey, the group also eradicated mold from a flood-damaged house, removed vegetation from a soggy lot and cleaned storm drainage along the streets.

“As soon as I stepped into that empty shell of a house that we gutted, I realized that it was once somebody’s home,” said Desiree Young, a sophomore communications arts major of Greybull, Wyo. “These people once had lives just like us, but they had it taken away from one catastrophe. I spoke with the owner about his experiences with the hurricane and his eyes told a deeper story than any news article or photographer could ever capture in words or images."

CSC was one of nine colleges and universities represented during the first week in March. In all, about 170 students were there at the same time. They all slept on bunks in the open space of a large building. Dave Covington, a CSC student from Cheyenne, Wyo., volunteered to cook for the group.

Kennell said the CSC students were exemplary workers, although sometimes under-utilized.

“Our students were skilled and willing to work seemingly harder than the other groups there,” she said. “We were told every time that we did a project that we got more done faster than the groups previous to us.”

In addition to working in southern Mississippi, the students traveled to New Orleans to witness the damage of the Lower Ninth Ward and Bourbon Street. Even though the trip to the Gulf Coast was not part of a CSC course curriculum, Kennell said each of the participants learned a great deal. The students agreed.

“I feel very privileged and grateful to be able to serve those communities and really hope that I can share these experiences with others and inspire those who wish to serve and turn their words to actions,” Young said.

In addition to Frey, Covington and Young, the students who traveled to the Gulf Coast are Sarah Andreason, Nelson; Travis Connot, Sidney; Victoria Frey, Lincoln; Crystal Haslett, Chadron; Ann Holland, Benkelman; Liz Licking, Tryon; Ashley Maxon, Laurel; and Matt Nielsen, Brunswick.