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Locals volunteers to bring help and hope to Katrina victims
"It was a very humbling experience," said Nancy Sharkey, one of the volunteers. "I can't imagine sitting on a ladder on a front porch in six feet of water waiting for more than two days to be rescued." That was the experience of one of the victims, Gwen, that the volunteers helped. The team painted Gwen's home and received insight into the woman's character at the same time. When they asked her why it took so long for her to be rescued, she said simply: "They were helping others who were worse off." The volunteers left Sun., Jan. 6, as part of the Catholic Charities initiative to provide desperately needed service to the people of Greater New Orleans by amassing thousands of volunteers willing to lend a hand.
Often the teams went beyond the tasks assigned and also performed other work that was obviously required. The final result- While in New Orleans, these teams washed, scraped, primed and painted three homes and helped prepare two additional homes for follow-up volunteers. "I have never been so overwhelmed by the expressions of personal gratitude as I was with this experience," said another volunteer Bob Welsh. "These people were so grateful and they said some of the most eloquent things I ever heard in my life." The $8,400 needed for airfare and to rent work vans for the 21 volunteers was raised through contributions from fellow parishioners of Maria Regina. The volunteers were housed at "Hope Haven" a shelter run by the Archdiocese of New Orleans. All of the tools, equipment and materials required for the work performed were provided by Catholic Charities at no cost to the homeowner. Today, nearly two and one-half years after Katrina, thousands of homes are still untouched- entire neighborhoods lie in ruin. The devastation, living conditions and poverty are unimaginable. Operation Helping Hands began in October 2005. Now volunteers are beginning to rebuild the homes that gutted. Volunteers are helping have been gutted. Volunteers are helping homeowners by performing labor such as general carpentry, insulation, drywall, painting, landscaping, electrical and plumbing work. To date, Operation Helping Hands has mobilized over 14,000 volunteers - more than 410,000 volunteer hours. Almost 2,000 homes have been gutted, 42 homes have been repainted and 7 homes have been completed. There are currently 26 homes under construction. "When we got off the bus last night we all hugged and looked back on the work we had done," said volunteer Michael Spinelli. "We had laughed, cried and made many new friends- and we promised each other that we would help spread the word that much rep. mains to be completed."
For information about how you can help or about Operation Helping Hands, you can call Rev. Msgr. Peter J. Pflomm at Maria Regina at (516) 798- 2415 or go online to http:// www.ccano.org/programs.htm .
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