Photos from Day 5

Today we worked on cleaning up a yard in the 9th Ward in the morning and worked at a nursing home in the afternoon. At lunchtime, we planted my birthday tree. We all wrote wishes for the upcoming year on slips of paper and put them in the hole before planting it. It was a heartwarming finish to a great week.

Morning of Day Five

Day Four on the Jobsite

Today we worked at a historic plantation that had been severely damaged by the storm. The house was built in 1820 and was lovely. Melissa and Laila worked on the raised beds. Arent, Will, Allie, and Steph installed chain linked fencing. Tori, Megan, and Paige scraped the wrought iron fence in the front of the property. Although important work, the kids much preferred working directly with homeowners in a neighborhood setting as they had done the previous days.

Surprise birthday celebration! The kids were incredibly sweet to me today. The had gifts, a cake, and had purchased a tree to plant on our jobsite in honor of my birthday/Earthday. They had heard that this is a birthday tradition of mine since I was a child and that this would be the first year that I would not be able to plant a tree. It was very, very thoughtful. Last night, we went to the "Rock & Bowl" to continue the celebration......we bowled and danced the night away! Much fun!

Thursday Morning

We are just finishing up breakfast......scrambled eggs, sausage, grits, and biscuits. In a few minutes, we will head out to our new jobsite. We will be helping to restore a park that has not been touched since the hurricane. Removing debris, weeding, planting, installing a fence, etc. We will miss working with Tommy (the site coordinator for our last job) but are looking forward to experiencing a new site.

Our living quarters are what we expected. Dormatory style....one large room with 3-story bunk beds, a common shower area, and a dining hall downstairs. The Popeye's biscuits at breakfast are the kids favorite. We have had the luxery of meeting some very nice people who have been treating us to lots of New Orleans special dishes. Needless to say, we are eating well.

Last, night we went to a small jazz concert in a nearby park, Laila trimmed Melissa's hair, and we played Pictionary until bedtime. The kids are pretty tired each night so are usually in bed by 9:30. They have been so much fun.......Nicki and I are lucky to have such a great group.

All for now. We will post a blog from our "leaders of the day" later on.

Photos from the jobsite

All of the rotted wood has been removed, new studs have been installed, plywood is up, and the kids are now tacking the felt paper in place before putting up the clapboard. They are doing such a great job. You should all be proud of these amazing kids!

Day Three!

Experiencing Local Hospitality!

Special thanks to Maj. John Bryson of the New Orleans Police Department and his lovely family for hosting a wonderful dinner for all of us last night at his home. We enjoyed delicious gumbo, barbeque, and the fixins! We very grateful for his hospitality.