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Donnellson youth group goes to Louisiana to help rebuild
By Jason Crooks/MVM NEWS NETWORK
Inspired by all the people who needed help after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, a group of Central Lee High School students - all members of the Zion Mennonite Church in Donnellson - recently organized a work mission trip to the New Orleans area.
For four days, 10 students and four adults gutted and roofed houses in a town southeast of New Orleans called Buras.
In Buras, the group saw devastation - an entire town had been leveled. They saw the wonder of what a huge storm did - crossing paths with a family who'd finally found their house after months of searching. (The house had been carried blocks and then slammed on top of a van with an Iowa license plate, of all oddities.)
After days of swinging sledgehammers, avoiding rats, and pushing tons of junk to curbs, the group saw how little they'd actually done.
“We know we made a difference in some lives,” said Central Lee High School senior Megan Weirather, “but in the scheme of things we know we didn't even make a dent.”
The students raised $3,000 in funds to go on the trip, and, since Marriott didn't have any rooms with four walls available, they ended up staying at a church called the Light House Fellowship. The air-mattress accommodations helped keep costs well below what was raised, leaving money left over to donate. After working from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, the volunteers would play ping-pong and games with another work group from Kentucky.
And each day, they'd be wowed even more by how much destruction had been done. It was obvious to everyone in the group that several years will pass before anybody bunks in Buras again.
“We were just shocked... really surprised and amazed by how much was down there,” said Andrew Krehbiel. “We really weren't expecting that much...fridges in trees and houses on top of houses. You don't see that in Iowa.”
Some of the students in the group - Weirather, D.J. Freesmeier, Morgan and Kristen Krehbiel, Miranda Krauter, and Chelsea Gelsen - visited New Orleans about two years ago for a band trip. The group didn't have much to compare on this trip down to New Orleans, though, as they only drove through the city on the way to Buras.
However, to them, the damage done in Buras was far worse than what New Orleans had seen.
Only months ago, the group's “hotel” - the Light House Fellowship - had been deluged under 20 feet of sea water. In fact, the whole city sat under water for six weeks.
“It killed orange trees. It killed everything,” said Willis Krehbiel, one of the adults who went on the trip. “It was just dead ... nothing, like a moonscape almost. It was weird.”
The few people who remain in the area live in shacks or temporary work-trailers. And nobody is allowed past certain checkpoints in the area unless they're there to help out. And why should they be? After all, there's no sewer system, no electricity, no water to drink.
“Just like Donnellson,” Jason Hirschler said, drawing a laugh from the group.
Good to see the experience hasn't fazed the optimism of the high school missionaries.
“I don't think anybody wanted to come home,” said Weirather. “I think we'd do it all again in a heartbeat.”
Obviously, this group, which also included students Allison Krehbiel and Brandon Vogel and adults Marilyn and Ed Vogel and Doug Vogel, had plenty of good stored up in their hearts.
“They represented their church and their youth group very well,” said Marilyn Vogel.
The group will share their efforts in public presentation a t 3 p.m., Sunday, April 2, in the Community Room in Donnellson. They will show hundreds of pictures, some video and share lots of stories.
For four days, 10 students and four adults gutted and roofed houses in a town southeast of New Orleans called Buras.
In Buras, the group saw devastation - an entire town had been leveled. They saw the wonder of what a huge storm did - crossing paths with a family who'd finally found their house after months of searching. (The house had been carried blocks and then slammed on top of a van with an Iowa license plate, of all oddities.)
After days of swinging sledgehammers, avoiding rats, and pushing tons of junk to curbs, the group saw how little they'd actually done.
“We know we made a difference in some lives,” said Central Lee High School senior Megan Weirather, “but in the scheme of things we know we didn't even make a dent.”
The students raised $3,000 in funds to go on the trip, and, since Marriott didn't have any rooms with four walls available, they ended up staying at a church called the Light House Fellowship. The air-mattress accommodations helped keep costs well below what was raised, leaving money left over to donate. After working from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, the volunteers would play ping-pong and games with another work group from Kentucky.
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“We were just shocked... really surprised and amazed by how much was down there,” said Andrew Krehbiel. “We really weren't expecting that much...fridges in trees and houses on top of houses. You don't see that in Iowa.”
Some of the students in the group - Weirather, D.J. Freesmeier, Morgan and Kristen Krehbiel, Miranda Krauter, and Chelsea Gelsen - visited New Orleans about two years ago for a band trip. The group didn't have much to compare on this trip down to New Orleans, though, as they only drove through the city on the way to Buras.
However, to them, the damage done in Buras was far worse than what New Orleans had seen.
Only months ago, the group's “hotel” - the Light House Fellowship - had been deluged under 20 feet of sea water. In fact, the whole city sat under water for six weeks.
“It killed orange trees. It killed everything,” said Willis Krehbiel, one of the adults who went on the trip. “It was just dead ... nothing, like a moonscape almost. It was weird.”
The few people who remain in the area live in shacks or temporary work-trailers. And nobody is allowed past certain checkpoints in the area unless they're there to help out. And why should they be? After all, there's no sewer system, no electricity, no water to drink.
“Just like Donnellson,” Jason Hirschler said, drawing a laugh from the group.
Good to see the experience hasn't fazed the optimism of the high school missionaries.
“I don't think anybody wanted to come home,” said Weirather. “I think we'd do it all again in a heartbeat.”
Obviously, this group, which also included students Allison Krehbiel and Brandon Vogel and adults Marilyn and Ed Vogel and Doug Vogel, had plenty of good stored up in their hearts.
“They represented their church and their youth group very well,” said Marilyn Vogel.
The group will share their efforts in public presentation a t 3 p.m., Sunday, April 2, in the Community Room in Donnellson. They will show hundreds of pictures, some video and share lots of stories.
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