Sunday, October 11. We are so grateful for Troy and Jill from the Louisiana Recovery School District. Their organization, leadership and willingness to work side-by-side at all times is an inspiration and a driving force in our productivity. We appreciate our ten plus Common Ground Relief (CGR) volunteers who all enthusiastically stream in each day to assist us – this day being no exception. Today’s mission was to continue organizing a “filled-to-the brim” storage room and carry on with the painting of the two-story entry and rear doors to the school’s playground.
We said farewell to our new volunteer friends, Gary, Frank and Larry from Georgia. They are all retired from the military and travel to New Orleans often in search of projects to assist with. Their help with the entryway painting and the removal of old wooden, prison-like screens from seven rear doorways and all their prep work was invaluable. We will miss them.
We are all smiles as we reflect on the enormous progress made as our weary heads hit our pillows last night.
Storage Room
At first glimpse – this room seemed an impossible task. Chaos and disorder everywhere – an accurate reflection of a chaotic Katrina. It was not difficult to understand why this room had been ignored. Over several days, Patti, Nora, Laura Ann, Emily, Lisa, Joe, Marjie and Ken moved and lifted heavy boxes, sorting the contents of each one. With the help of school administration the books to keep were set aside to load on the newly-built custom book shelves. We can thank Global Hope Master Carpenter, John Ernst, for that. John and Dickie planned and recruited CGR volunteers, Kyle and Mychal, to help build them. Joey joined the team for the finishing stage of the process. Kyle and Mychal were grateful for John’s mentoring and John was grateful that they could keep up with his “Chicago-style journeyman’s pace”.
It took several days before the room’s makeover would be complete. We loved witnessing the excitement of teachers who would visit in and out of the days. Especially their excitement to find educational treasures that had been needed or missing. Patti Ernst, project leader, shared that it felt like Christmas! This room was transformed from an overloaded, disorganized storage room to a functional resource center for holding educational materials and hosting small groups and tutoring.
