School Supply Drive Update

A couple of months ago, with inspiration and much assistance from several others, I announced the start of a fundraiser for School Supplies for the children of Andrew Jackson Elementary in St. Bernard Parish. With many families in the Parish still in need of support, I hoped to gather as much in the way of supplies for the upcoming school year as possible. Well, there are two weeks left before the kids report to school, and I have to say that the response has been amazing. I want to thank everyone who has and is in the process of donating. The support we've gotten -- in the form of actual supplies, in gift cards, and in cash, has been phenomenal.

We have many boxes of supplies either here or on their way right now, and approximately $2000 in cash or gift cards. In addition, the St. Bernard Parish School District has received almost $1000 in donations from some of you, money that is matched on a 10-to-1 basis so long as it is used to replace items lost in the storm. That is exactly what they intend to do with that money, so the School District passes along its thanks as well.

As for the money we have at our disposal to purchase more supplies, we've partnered up with a Target located about 30 miles north of New Orleans. Not only is that store going to help us get the supplies that we need, but they are also going to contribute a financial donation to add to our current pool, AND, some of the store employees are going to volunteer and help us on Thursday, August 23, when we actually distribute all the supplies at the school. On that day, we are going to put bags together and take them to each classroom, where with the help of the teacher they will be distributed to the kids in need. The school's Administration, including its Principal, Ms. Harlton, are very supportive in helping us carry this initiative out, as well as extremely grateful.

We have a little more work to do and hopefully a few more donations coming in, but we're almost there. I will, of course, be taking a lot of pictures the day of the Distribution, and sharing those along with some stories immediately following right here on my blog. Thanks again to everyone who has helped support this drive. Trust me when I tell you it's making a difference.

A Place That Means Something

There’s something about being at that school. Andrew Jackson Elementary does it to me all the time, it lifts my spirits. It had an immediate impact on me when I started volunteering early in the spring, when school was in session. Being around the kids sort of made all destruction and ugliness I saw all around me go away. I knew it hadn’t gone away, and wouldn’t anytime soon. But seeing how the children are doing, and knowing that they are the ones who actually live in it, have to wake up to it every morning, and will have to wake up to it for many more mornings to come, it just makes you want to be here helping out, helping their community, helping the school.

The summer has been quieter at Andrew Jackson. Play Power, the program through which I got my start volunteering, still ran a summer session up until July 15. And about 500 kids were in the summer program at the school, so there was activity. But half the building was empty, many of the classrooms locked. The feeling in the building was different, much more so than when there were 2000-plus kids filing up and down the hallways. Yet I still loved being there. I would go by there for an hour or two here and there, not really to help with Play Power, but rather just to see what was going on, see some of the children. I also wanted to keep in regular communication with the front office folks, Principal Harlton and her staff, and stay on top of anything that came in for the School Supply Drive we’re doing.

The last two weeks, since summer session ended July 15, have been really quiet. I’ve been in a few times to help unpack boxes. There are literally dozens of stacks of boxes that need attention. The funny thing is, in the real world, not only would I not enjoy that kind of work but I wouldn’t even contemplate doing it. But here, at AJ, I just like being in that building, I like the feeling I have, the energy, what the place stands for. It’s still the only Elementary School in St. Bernard Parish, and will be for the 2007-08 school year (although 6^th Grade will be breaking out into another school this year, leaving AJ to house the pre-K thru 5^th graders). If there’s any place that needs and deserves and should get attention, it’s a school that teaches and cares for hundreds of children. Many of the other projects, sure, they’re for great causes, and need to be done. And I’ll continue to be involved, but they’re tainted. There’s politics, there’s corruption, there’s crookedness, there’s ego. It’s like the real world, it’s like corporate America. I left that back in February when I decided to come here. I left that for 2007. This year is committed to helping people, not fighting with them – although I still do that on occasion. I have to try harder and not do that. But 2007, it’s for this, it’s for unpacking boxes and helping kids and talking to parents and sitting and listening to teachers or assistant principals talk because they have the same problems every other resident has here. They lost homes and live in trailers and have exhausted savings, too.

There’s no paycheck, there’s no office with my name on it, there’s no cubicle, there’s no people to call my direct reports, there are no meetings to go to where we all try to outrank and out think and out smart or out ego each other (not sure if that’s even grammatically correct, but who cares, if you’ve worked in an office, you know what I’m talking about). Here’s, it’s just about me walking into a building, saying good morning to teachers and principals, them smiling back and thanking me for being there. It’s for talking to parents who are signing their kids up for school, and it’s for watching kids who have none of the advantages that I had when I was their age run around and smile and still be happy. If they can be that way, I can be that way. That’s why I love being at Andrew Jackson, and a big reason why I’m not leaving St. Bernard Parish just yet.

MORE SCHOOL THOUGHTS: Today was an especially active day at AJ. While unpacking boxes in the hallway, I witnessed a number of parents coming in, some with their kids, some without, to register for the school year. It’s interesting to observe, to over hear what’s going on. Most still wear the same look or appearance I’ve been seeing for months now, that of a person who has been through a lot and knows the end of the struggle isn’t even on the horizon. Does that mean it’s all doom and gloom? No, not in my book. It’s a fight for some to get back on their feet, and I think a lot of them are up for it. In fact, I know they are. We don’t have to feel sorry for all of them (although some seem very worth of our sympathy); I prefer to look at it that we need to feel supportive and not sorry.

I talked to some of the parents today, including Vincent and Shea Abraham (pictured above), who were in to sign up Vincent’s son, Onani. They are all originally from the Virgin Islands, and they came to St. Bernard Parish about four years ago. After a few stops following the storm, including about six months living in Memphis, TN, they’re back (since late last year). Onani has been in the Virgin Islands with his mom, but is going to come live with his dad and step mom here for the upcoming year. Vincent and Shea have finally settled into a house here in the Parish. They are renting, and that’s just fine with them. They lost a lot of their belongings but they assured me they’ve gotten back on their feet and are making the best of things.

I have several months coming up where I’m going to be talking to and helping people who aren’t as settled as Vincent and Shea are, people who are going to be getting kicked out of their FEMA Trailers, for example. That’s why talking to the Abrahams was good, though, because they’ve done it, and I can remind others I talk to, or even just remind myself, that it can be done, it’s getting done.

Worthwhile Reading

Two pieces ran in today's Times-Picayune that I think are very worthwhile reading. Both capture vantage points and realities that help convey where New Orleans is 23 months after Katrina.

The first is an opinion piece by David Sarasohn of The Oregonian (interesting to see something like this written by someone who works for a newspaper clear across the country).


Katrina is still a killer two years later

Monday, July 30, 2007

David Sarasohn

As a politician, Rep. Charlie Melancon reads local papers closely, and he's found a frequent cause of death.

"So-and-so died," he reads, "as a result of Hurricane Katrina."

On the calendar, Katrina is coming up on its second anniversary next month. In Louisiana, and in the state's mortality charts, it seems it never ended.

"There is no doubt in my mind that Katrina is still killing our residents," Orleans Parish Coroner Dr. Frank Minyard told The Associated Press last month. "People with pre-existing conditions that are made worse by the stress of living here after the storm. Old people who are just giving up. People who are killing themselves because they feel they can't go on."

....to read the rest of Sarasohn's piece, use the link below:

http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-0/118577882198390.xml&coll=1&thispage=1

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The second is a piece on the state of churches in and around New Orleans, and their recovery, called Houses of Worship. Here's an excerpt:

In the hardest-hit parishes of Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Bernard, 43 percent of pre-Katrina congregations have not returned, according to Day's research.

That represents slow improvement in the eight months since Day's previous benchmark, the one-year anniversary of Katrina. At that time Day estimated that only 47 percent of congregations in those hard-hit parishes were meeting; now it's 57 percent.

Moreover, it appears across the board that surviving congregations have lost significant fractions of their members. Day said it was not uncommon to see surviving congregations functioning at two-thirds of their former strength.

...for the full story, go to:

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1185775264295930.xml&coll=1

A Different Look

I felt kind of silly when I first saw them, or when heard someone talk about them. The cemeteries, here in the New Orleans area, before I came here in February I did not know that the bodies and final resting place is above ground. The concept makes sense. This area is so close to sea level (in Douglas Brinkley’s excellent book, The Great Deluge, in which he recaptures the before, during and after events of Hurricane Katrina, he points out how Bienville and his fellow settlers went to the area’s highest point, which was just 11 feet above sea level. Two and a half centuries later, that area may be about four feet above sea level, while many parts of the city and outlying areas are below sea level) that burying our dead under ground is not even an option.

Cemeteries here draw quite a bit of attention. Just this morning, I drove by one that had a tour bus stopped in front with a number of people peering in through the gates and taking pictures. This particular one is nice. It's right in the city, on Esplanade Ave., just down the street from where I’m now living. These photos show how beautiful one of these can be. Some of the structures are really striking. When I walked around in there, it felt similar to when I would go into an old church and look up at the ceiling and see all the artwork or statues. The detail on some is really impressive. Yet the entire time you know you’re in a cemetery.

Not all made it through Katrina in good shape, however. There’s a cemetery about 500 yards down the road from Camp Hope, where I first stayed when I got here. Many of the tombs were ruined, and it has yet to be fixed or cleaned up. Lots of rumors float around about what happened in this and other cemeteries like it, that coffins were carried away by the high waters and that bodies washed away. I’ve never been able to substantiate this (it’s something I’d like to confirm before leaving). Regardless, the cemetery on St. Bernard Highway should be rehabilitated. One would think that the Parish Government would make this a priority. It’s sad to see the pictures below; sadder still to actually walk through this cemetery. What’s going to happen to this place? It’s a question I’m going to pose to Parish officials.

Cemeteries in New Orleans, though, are an interesting phenomenon, and it may be worth reading up more on them. If interested, here’s a link to some information on the cemetery referenced above, on Esplanade Ave.

http://goneworleans.about.com/od/famouslandmarks/a/stlouis3.htm