NOLA

NOLA was such a mind – blowing experience and I am more than grateful that Pat and Britt were able to allow me to attend the trip despite a few issues that conflicted with the time.

Despite the fact that New Orleans was hit by Katrina, I find it to be a very beautiful city filled with beautiful people. Seeing places like the French Quarter and Bourbon Street was almost unbelievable. It’s almost as if in New Orleans every day is a celebration; there doesn’t need to be a sports game happening during the time. I look forward to attending the trip again in the future and maybe taking a road trip separately from TCNJ.

What I saw in New Orleans was not anywhere near what residents of the city saw or even Bonners that attended the NOLA trip a few years ago, but it was nonetheless still devastating. There were houses and buildings that haven’t been touched since the storm hit New Orleans. A lot of houses are so far spaced out even though they were all jam – packed together before the tragedy. It was amazing to see the home owners of the new and re-built houses still smiling and willing to tell their stories and what they’ve experienced.

Working at different sites ended up being a very rewarding feeling for me. I went to NOLA expecting to work on one building or house. However, working at multiple sites gave us the opportunity to help out when we were there and sometimes saw instant results. I believe that every little bit counts when it comes to being a blessing to someone else. We were just that; a blessing. It was great to experience working at the food bank and The Mission, only to see that the food bank made a delivery to the Mission a few days after. Come to find out, the food that we assisted in packing was delivered to the Mission.

What opened my eyes even more was that I already had a spirit of being helpful and a blessing when first arriving to NOLA. However, after seeing what we did and looking at the smiles on the faces of those in need after we accomplished a task was the most rewarding.