DawsonTimes.com

While many students packed their swimsuits for the beaches of Florida this week, a small, dedicated group of Brenau volunteers are spending spring break helping Hurricane Katrina victims in Louisiana.

Organized by Bill Lightfoot, dean of the School of Business and Mass Communications, the group of 25 includes nine students from Brenau Academy, three Taiwanese students from the MBA cohort program and seven from the Women’s College.

The group left Gainesville Saturday morning for New Orleans in five SUVs. The students planned to stay in a church in Metairie, La., for the spring break week. 

Lightfoot and the volunteers will work for five days repairing damaged homes with the St. Bernard Project. St. Bernard Parish, which was home to 67,000 residents before Katrina, was virtually uninhabitable after the hurricane. Now, thanks to volunteers for the St. Bernard Project, 175 homes have been rebuilt so far.

“One of the founders is Liz McCartney, who recently won the CNN Hero of the Year Award for 2008,” Lightfoot said. “I have asked that we get a chance to meet her.”

Lightfoot was inspired to set up this trip when he visited New Orleans 14 months ago for an accreditation conference for Brenau University and saw how little had been done in parts of the city. Then he read an article about how McCartney and her boyfriend, Zack Rosenburg, had left high-paying jobs in Washington to start the St. Bernard Project.

In addition to rehabbing damaged homes, Lightfoot’s group also will interview some of the participants for a documentary about their experience on the trip. Kristina Rhoades, a graduate assistant working on a master’s degree in organizational leadership, will be in charge of the documentary. 

“We asked the students to contribute $500 each to help pay for the trip,” Lightfoot said. “Home Depot has donated caps and gloves and other stuff, but individuals also donated some tools. The St. Bernard Project sent us a list of tools they need.” The list included 18-volt Ryobi cordless drills; Paslode nail guns; Ryobi Rotozips; power generators; pneumatic nail guns; chop saws; and table saws.

Lightfoot said that anyone who wants to donate money can write a check to St. Bernard Project and send it to him c/o Brenau University, 500 Washington St. SE, Gainesville, Ga. 30501.

“We’ll be doing some cultural events in New Orleans,” Lightfoot said, “but this is a mission-related trip. We have several students from Asia and we want to give the kids a sense of America. Next year, I hope we can do something similar. I believe you have to set an example. From my perspective, it’s important for people to do service and learning activities.”