Time to Move

Camp Hope is moving. My home, in more ways than one, for my first 11 weeks here in Louisiana, the volunteer camp is relocating to a bigger school about two miles down the road on St. Bernard Highway. It’s definitely the right thing to do, as this facility is bigger and will be much better equipped to support the weeks when 400 and 500+ volunteers are staying there. The building the camp is moving to has a second floor which sustained very little damage during the flooding caused by Katrina.

Even though I was there just under three months, it seems like it was much longer than that (pic to the right is of the front office, a place I spent many a Saturday and Sunday earlier this year helping to check volunteers in). And, Camp Hope has remained a pretty big part of my time here, so it was kind of strange seeing it slowly empty out today. I may not have always agreed with the way Habitat for Humanity, which has a big stake in the camp, did things, but I’ve always been 100% behind what this camp stood for, and its place in this community. It’s housed thousands of volunteers since June of 2006, and many incredible people used it as a place to eat, to sleep, to shower, to get to know other volunteers, to get to know residents, to share stories and so much more. I’ll always believe in that place. At its core, Camp Hope is a great thing!

More good news for the Andrew Jackson School Supply Drive, which culminates next Thursday, August 23, with the distribution of all the supplies to students and teachers: thanks to the persistent efforts and communication of volunteer Erin Donovan, who spent 9 days in St. Bernard Parish in April, Disney (yes, that Disney) is going to send 100 backpacks stuffed with school supplies to Andrew Jackson via its annual Disney back-to-school backpack program. Disney provides supplies to children all over the world through this initiative, and they were inspired enough by our efforts here, after reading a letter that Erin circulated at ABC, to make the contribution of 100 backpacks. They were going out today and should be here in time for us to distribute next Thursday along with all the other supplies we’ve obtained thanks to everyone’s donations and contributions. I also wanted to acknowledge the folks in Colorado who have done so much to help with this drive, including Garrett Ray, who also circulated a letter promoting the initiative. Thank you to everyone who has helped make this such a success.