Students and Staff Volunteer Over Winter Break to Rebuild NOLA

This past January, 17 FSU students and three staff members flew to Houma, La., to spend a week volunteering with Rebuilding Together NOLA, Rebuilding Together Bayou and Break a Difference. While there, the group, along with students and staff from Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y., rebuilt homes for local residents as well as a Community Center for the Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe. 

The group learned the impact that climate change and reduced wetlands are having on the area, including more powerful and frequent hurricanes. The increased frequency and intensity of these natural disasters make it more difficult for local residents to recover each time one strikes. 

These trips provide students the opportunity to spend their break making an impact, create lifelong friendships and learn new skills, as well as how they can continue making a difference in their chosen career path through conversations with nonprofit and business leaders. The trip was in part funded by an Opportunity Grant from the FSU Foundation.

Back row (L to R): Ashley Daniels '11, Pearl Pobee, Hailey Jenkins, Jackson McGahey, JJ DeVoe, Chikamso Ezeaku, Jacob Carder, Brayden Hill, Robert Cooper, Maddox Hancock (holding “Pants”), Katarzyna Chmiel, & Latisha Cooper Front row (L to R) Li Sackett, Kristina Thompson, Aisa Wrights, Oliver Vasquez, Isabella Whiteley-Grice, Margaret Walden, Rachael Michalski, & Mackenzie Clapp