Instead of going to Florida and lounging on a beach (which I doubt her dad would pay for, anyway!), Sarah is going to go to Biloxi, MS to help rebuild a Katrina home! It's with Back Bay Mission. She had to sign up and make a deposit last week. Since they only had 18 spots available, she and one of her CA's in her dorm (Community assistant. We called them Resident Assistants where I went to school), got up at 5:30am to go to the sign-up spot. There were already 6 people in line! Signup was at 7:15-ish, last Friday. Her grades and conduct checked out, so she got a confirmation email today. The lucky pup gets to fly down there and they get to spend some time in New Orleans, too, along with having a shrimp boil on the Friday night.

She needs volunteer hours, to get into the school of nursing, eventually. This will sure help with that. (Which reminds me, Emily needs to get some in, too, for National Honor Society).

She's been on two previous mission trips, though our church and enjoyed all of them!

By Cocoabutter on Thursday, November 1, 2007 - 01:13 am:

Wow, how cool!

You may need to prepare her. As exciting an opportunity as this is, the devastation thee may be a bit of a shock to her. It'll be good, though, for her to see how fortunate she is. What a growing opportunity this will be.

By Trina~moderator on Thursday, November 1, 2007 - 08:04 am:

Very cool! I'm sure it will be quite an educational and memorable experience for her.

FWIW, I never did go to FL or anywhere special on spring break during college. I always worked FT during breaks to make extra money to help with finances and pay for school.

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, November 1, 2007 - 08:05 am:

They are going to be having some meetings, to help prepare them for the work and the culture of the area. This was in the email she got:

/i{There is much that will come in the next several months as we prepare ourselves for the work, culture, experience, and emotion ahead of us! Tom and I will be there along the way to do what we can for the group and ensuring you are prepared as possible for this trip! At times there will be forms to fill out, many of you want to fundraise, and then we'll figure out a T-Shirt I'm sure! On top of that, we want to make sure we understand the area and the culture!}

By Mommyof5 on Thursday, November 1, 2007 - 09:14 am:

Good for her!! I went to that area about 2 years ago to help clean out some of the houses. It will be a life changing experience for her.

By Pamt on Thursday, November 1, 2007 - 01:41 pm:

Cool! Just make sure she pronounces it correctly. Most non-southerners say "bill-LOCK-see" and the correct way to say it is "bill-LUCK-see." LOL! She'll have a great time I'm sure! I still haven't been to New Orleans since Katrina and I was only an hour away. I never liked New Orleans before and the crime is really, really bad now. They need to be super careful!

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, November 1, 2007 - 02:24 pm:

I say it Bi lux ie. LOL! It's harder to say it bilocksie! I'll let her know! LOL! I'll tell her to be careful, too.

By Sandysmom on Thursday, November 1, 2007 - 03:46 pm:

Dawn, that is wonderful! I know it will be a very rewarding experience for her. Our church has been to MS a few times to help out and they always come back with stories of how grateful the people are for their help. It's very touching. Good Luck to her!

By Karen~admin on Thursday, November 1, 2007 - 04:16 pm:

LOL Pam, you are SO right - I can't stand it in movies, where they have characters call it Bill-LOCK-see. That goes right along with them giving New Orleanians a southern drawl.......so NOT the way it really is!

As far as crime in New Orleans - yes, crime is up, but I believe if she's with a decent sized group and they don't stray into areas off the beaten path, they will be just fine.

Dawn, if they are coming into New Orleans, will they be staying overnight, or just for the day? How many people will be going with her into New Orleans? There are some things she might enjoy seeing - the Aquarium, maybe the Audubon Zoo, the Garden District, and really, I would say the French Quarter, during the day. It's being kept really clean now, and it would be a shame not to see it, just for the architecture alone. There's a flea market and farmer's market that they might like to visit too, right on the river, just outside of the Quarter. If they go into the Quarter, they should stay ON the beaten path - not go too far down any side streets. The city is obviously not *normal* - there are still abandoned businesses and empty buildings downtown as well as everywhere else.

It would be great if they could *tour* the areas in Louisiana that were hardest hit, but I'd advise having very responsible, ADULT chaperones to go into some of them.

I think it will be a terrific experience for her. There have been a number of college and church groups of young adults who have come here on breaks and vacations to help with the rebuilding, and I have the utmost respect for them for doing that.

By Dawnk777 on Friday, November 2, 2007 - 12:39 am:

It's a group of 18 college students and 2 adult advisors. I don't know the details of the New Orleans trip. I'm sure Sarah doesn't either. I assumed it would be the whole group doing the trip together. She is going to be having more meetings over the winter, regarding the trip and I think we will be getting more details as time goes on.