Student volunteers plan more outings to help others

Driving down U.S. Highway 90 between Biloxi and Pass Christian, Miss., junior Audrey Clayton was shocked by what she saw.\nDebris clung to branches of giant trees and piles of rubble 20 feet high lay untouched. Only stone foundations and steps remained where houses once stood.\nIt had been four months since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, and Clayton, then an IU freshman, was embarking on her first relief trip to Mississippi. Since that winter, Clayton has made six more trips to Mississippi and New Orleans with Youth Advocating Leadership and Learning, also called Y’ALL, a relief group she co-founded.\nWhile Clayton works year-round to plan Y’ALL trips, many students and groups, such as Campus Crusade for Christ, sign up in the weeks before a break. Both groups are taking students on relief missions to the Gulf Coast this spring break. \nThis will be Campus Crusade for Christ’s third trip to help rebuild New Orleans. However, unlike past trips, this spring break will be focused on service, not ministry, said senior Emily Didrick.\nLike Clayton, Didrick’s first trip to New Orleans prompted her to continue volunteering in the devastated cities.\nOn the trip her sophomore year, Didrick was not prepared for the view from the van carrying her and other volunteers. She saw cars stuck in trees and spray paint marking houses where people had died. Everyone was silent.\n“It was humbling,” Didrick said. “These people were not looking for a handout. They didn’t want to ask for help, but they knew they had to.” \nYears later, Didrick recognizes that there is still a need for volunteers. While the details about what volunteers will be doing in New Orleans this spring break will not be confirmed until they arrive, Didrick said they will probably be involved in demolition, cleaning and rebuilding.\nY’ALL volunteers are involved in similar activities on their relief trips, Clayton said.\nClayton cleaned up debris from lots as large as three acres, knocked out drywall that had been flooded, hung sheet rock and helped install roofing. As she sorted through rubble, she would place personal belongings in a separate pile for homeowners to claim. Dolls, photos and diplomas were among the personal items she sifted through.\nIn addition to working with hammers and paintbrushes, Clayton spoke with homeowners whose houses had been destroyed. After she helped to remove six feet of weeds from Elmer Street in Biloxi, residents threw Y’ALL volunteers a block party complete with a crawfish dinner.\n“These people were just so thankful,” Clayton said. “Their lives had been completely destroyed, yet they were there making us home-cooked food and saying, ‘Thank you so much for doing what you’re doing.’”\nWhile Clayton currently works on the logistical aspects of the relief trips such as finding funding, transportation and lodging, she finds this job as rewarding as the manual labor.\n“When I see the volunteers come back after a day of work, especially the first-timers, and they have tears in their eyes after they have talked to homeowners, it re-motivates me to facilitate this opportunity,” she said. “I know that without what I do back here on campus in the weeks before, the trip wouldn’t happen, so it’s just as important.”\nIU alumnus Michael Nosofsky has been volunteering on the Gulf Coast since December 2005, the first Y’ALL trip. He found out about the trip from his roommate, who had been involved in Habitat for Humanity.\nWhile Nosofsky said he will be busy with AmeriCorps during spring break, he said he plans on staying involved in Y’ALL trips as a graduate student next semester.\n“A lot of people think that they can’t make a big difference because they are only there for four or five days,” he said. “But the families couldn’t be happier and you really are making a huge difference. You just have to put it in perspective.”\nClayton has never had a “real” spring or winter break, but said she does not mind the time commitment.\n“There’s nothing wrong with going to Panama City and getting drunk all week,” she said. “But I feel like there’s a better way to use my time. I’ve been really blessed, and I wanted to do something to give back.”