tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56679149333761064202011-07-08T04:47:24.187-05:00Livingston County Cares is a collaborative effort among groups and organizations at SUNY Geneseo and in the Geneseo and Livingston County, New York community to focus relief efforts on helping people in Harrison County, Mississippi affected by the storms of 2005. This blog is to communicate the stories of those involved with our efforts.Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.comBlogger451100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-61317939844362480702010-02-08T13:19:00.004-05:002010-02-08T13:31:59.386-05:00

The January 2010 trip to Biloxi, MS went great! Check out pictures from our journey here!On February 14, 2010 we have our 17th group going to give back to the residents of Harrison County. Our 5th Alternative Spring Break trip is all full for March, but we still have spots open for our May trip! Download our application on our website or stop by College Union 353 to pick one up.The May trip

Katie Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12052096565751521233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-67640453664177146242010-01-04T16:29:00.002-05:002010-01-04T16:48:40.702-05:00

Yesterday, we embarked on our 16th trip to Mississippi. Myself, Geneseo students, Geneseo community members, and even a student from the University of Delaware took various flights - making it out despite the looming blizzard in New York - to New Orleans, LA. There, we packed into four vans and traveled a little under two hours to Ocean Springs, MS (with a much anticipated stop at Sonic along the

Katie Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12052096565751521233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-87621601751914753592009-11-30T13:49:00.003-05:002009-11-30T13:56:42.894-05:00

Livingston CARES is on Facebook! Check out our fan page http://bit.ly/CARESonFB and become a fan today!

Katie Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12052096565751521233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-81490019093722595202009-09-24T12:28:00.001-05:002009-09-24T12:29:48.506-05:00

Looking for an amazing experience this spring break? How about an experience that will be fun, with your friends, warm (what's spring break without a little sun?), and one that will give back to a community in need?Hurricane Katrina wrecked havoc four years ago this month - and much work continues to remain - YOU CAN HELP! Livingston CARES is a non-profit organization that takes work trips to

Katie Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12052096565751521233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-45549467173124388722009-03-30T10:25:00.002-05:002009-03-30T10:27:21.950-05:00

Again, another great week of service here at Camp Victor and a real blessing to have been able to host your team. I had a blast with your volunteers last week. I was able to work on site with them and also go to a bonfire on Thursday night with them as well. The kids from SUNY Geneseo brought enough energy and enthusiasm for the whole camp. It made the week really enjoyable and I want to say

Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086625516220086220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-13861684097456707832009-03-19T23:13:00.002-05:002009-03-19T23:20:58.882-05:00

We've been enjoying some wonderful weather here in Biloxi. It's been about 75 degrees and sunny. Here's what our groups have accomplished today:Lea and Lwam: Demolition continues. We arrived to the site to find that a city dump truck was emptying our full dumpster. With this, we were able to continue working. They hope to have the whole house demolished by Friday.Mark, Alyssa: Sheetrocking,

Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086625516220086220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-1179958626033153952009-03-19T23:05:00.002-05:002009-03-19T23:13:22.428-05:00

We're finally getting into the swing of things. Our day at Camp Victor starts at 6AM with waking up and breakfast at 650. We make our lunch each day before we leave for the work sites at 7:40. Camp Victor has been extremely busy this week. It's filled to capacity at 200, with an additional 100 volunteers using their facilities to shower and eat each day. It's good to see so many people

Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086625516220086220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-46119744207286494312009-03-17T19:51:00.002-05:002009-03-17T19:58:57.049-05:00

Hi Everyone! We are well on our way to getting a lot done this week. All of the volunteers are eager to pitch in and lend a hand whenever they're asked & have really learned lots of skills: (drywalling, mudding, measuring & cutting, tearing a house down, and much more). I'm so proud of everyone!Here's an update on our progress:Mark's Team: Finished priming, tore out carpet, painted shelves,

Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086625516220086220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-22410420490561712082009-03-16T21:40:00.002-05:002009-03-16T21:45:04.818-05:00

Well, we have Internet now at Camp Victor (hooray!) Today, we started out our day with packing lunches and coolers of water and heading over to the East Biloxi Coordination Center to get a brief orientation and get our assignments for the week.Our assignments are:Steven, Kaelyn, and Jordan's team: working on sheetrocking, mudding, and sanding a houseAlyssa's team: working on a house that is

Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086625516220086220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-48404298759113613702009-03-15T20:54:00.002-05:002009-03-15T20:59:57.980-05:00

We arrived here safely at 7AM on Sunday morning. The Internet is down at Camp Victor, but we will do our best to let you know what is going on. Today some of us went to a Baptist church service, while others caught up on sleep and played games.In the afternoon, we walked to the Gulf of Mexico beach and played frisbee and walked on the beach. We then took a driving tour of Biloxi and saw the

Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086625516220086220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-18734038096973452672009-03-13T07:45:00.002-05:002009-03-13T07:54:28.725-05:00

Our 14th trip to Mississippi leaves tomorrow morning, Saturday, March 14th for Biloxi, Mississippi! We have 55 people in all, 52 college students and 3 SUNY Geneseo staff/faculty. We're leaving at 8:30 A.M. from the SUNY Geneseo College Union and 24 hours later, we will be in Camp Victor. Right now, we have stops planned in Ohio and Tennessee to change drivers. Once we're in Biloxi on Sunday,

Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086625516220086220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-36615367581073817222009-01-07T18:16:00.002-05:002009-01-07T18:27:41.113-05:00

Whew! We are in the swing of things now! We've spent three solid days working on our projects and I know we're making progress.Here's what's happened in the last few days:On Tuesday, Phil and Krup's group did a lot more mudding, sanding, and joint compounding. Krup, Laura, and Jerry installed sheetrock into the bathrooms. We are so fortunate to have a great foreman instruct us. Bridget and I

Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086625516220086220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-58394721579749602702009-01-05T20:15:00.003-05:002009-01-05T20:35:41.200-05:00

Our group was split up today into 2 groups. Team C and A worked on 1 house and Team B and D worked on another. Here's what they had to say!Today we got our assignments and split up into two groups. My group went to a house owned by a woman who's son was going to be the sixth generation of people in his family to live there. They both stopped by in the afternoon and it was really

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-68351994197217453092009-01-04T21:55:00.003-05:002009-01-04T22:12:34.177-05:00

Wow, what a day it has been! After some much needed rest, we started our morning off Southern-style with breakfast at the Waffle House (Denny's for others). We then drove to downtown Biloxi to see what the area looked like. We saw the memorial to Hurricane Katrina, full of personal belongings from the storm. For myself and others in the group, it was incomprehensible to imagine the huge wall

Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03086625516220086220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-55994099154616714942009-01-03T21:55:00.003-05:002009-01-03T22:06:41.042-05:00

Whew. That's all that we can say after a very long day of traveling. For most of us, our day started by arriving at the Rochester airport at 4:00 A.M. After a de-icing of the plane, we were able to make it to Atlanta on-time. Our 3 volunteers from the New York City area joined us at the Atlanta airport. We had a 3 hour layover in Atlanta before making our connecting flight to New Orleans.

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-37334100137817526302009-01-02T20:07:00.002-05:002009-01-02T20:09:30.323-05:00

Here's some links about where we'll be/where we are staying:East Biloxi Coordination, Relief and Redevelopment Agency (EBCRRA)--- this is the group that will provide us with work:http://oprahsangelnetwork.org/stories/222-divine-appointments-help-rebuild-communityCamp Victor (where we are staying):http://campvictor.org/Happy Reading!

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-19651826520523257492009-01-02T20:03:00.003-05:002009-01-02T20:06:20.479-05:00

All my bags are packed... I'm ready to goIn less than 8 hours, the Livingston CARES January trip will be leaving the Rochester, NY airport. We'll be in New Orleans around 1:30 P.M. We plan to do some sightseeing in New Orleans before heading to Camp Victor in Mississippi. Here's hoping this is a great trip!

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-80090858676905618962008-12-17T11:31:00.002-05:002008-12-17T11:35:09.544-05:00

The January trip departs in T minus 17 days for Mississippi! We're busy getting ready (and packing!)I'm pretty excited to be working with such a great group of people! I look forward to getting to know everyone :)Stay tuned for updates as we embark on our January 2009 trip. We will be blogging daily, so you can feel like you're right there with us.Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season,

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-83284819724065051382008-05-27T16:37:00.003-05:002008-08-13T14:02:03.930-05:00

Tens of thousands of youngsters may face lifelong health problems because the temporary housing supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency contained formaldehyde fumes up to five times the safe level.Read the news article here.

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-58684153917790587192008-05-26T20:39:00.002-05:002008-05-26T21:27:02.934-05:00

I just have a few thoughts lingering about our week in Biloxi.First, I'm optimistic about the future of Biloxi.  It's relatively small, there are some quality homes being built and lots of people  have been touched by lots of people, like you all!Prior to Katrina, Biloxi seemed to be a mess, drugs etc, and was not a community of security or support.  That has the potential to change, to be a

Biloxi Riseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801858359538755923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-10140654971638551652008-05-24T08:52:00.002-05:002008-05-24T08:53:50.539-05:00

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-19424516711423603792008-05-23T23:34:00.009-05:002008-05-25T09:45:18.943-05:00

There has been interest in heading over to New Orleans for a brief visit since the beginning of our journey. We held a couple of conversations to consider whether or not this was a good idea and if it were plausible. Weighing the pros and cons, in the end the general consensus was to get to the job site early, shorten a lunch break and cut out a bit early on one work day. The actual plans

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-77938275684917578532008-05-23T23:02:00.007-05:002008-05-23T23:34:23.102-05:00

Today was a fine day and we accomplished much. With the drywall up, our next task was to begin mudding the walls, and as you can see in this image (left), we got a great start with the first coat. This was my first crack at mudding and it took a little while to get into a rhythm, but eventually, we got cranking. Craig tells us it's at least a 3-coat job . We had a couple of visitors to the site

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-71885727537465360382008-05-22T21:37:00.005-05:002008-05-22T23:43:38.863-05:00

This is my second trip to Biloxi, Mississippi and what a trip it has been. I am sure that I will remember this trip for the rest of my life and I can't wait to share my experiences with everyone I know. The only problem I have is that no one has the capacity to fully understand what you feel through out this trip and after, until you experience yourself. But here is my story for this trip...I

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-4268444157798000492008-05-22T21:23:00.009-05:002008-05-22T23:41:12.858-05:00

What a satisfying day! Somehow, amidst all the joking, laughing, and ever-present threat of rain, we managed to finish all the exterior painting, tearing down the scaffolding, cleaning the decks, and mounting the drywall at Leaster's home. She stopped by again today with excitement fairly leaping out of her face and body. Now we can see the delineation of rooms and begin imagining how this space

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-4409832000005067022008-05-21T22:16:00.007-05:002008-05-21T22:27:13.797-05:00

"I was kinda scared to death at first, but then I got used to it."Marc~ when asked how it was being up on the uppermost scaffolding to paint the exterior of the house.

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-78504423927688974002008-05-21T21:40:00.003-05:002008-05-21T22:09:36.100-05:00

Tracy is tired tonight so she has entrusted me with the great honor of posting to the blog.Unfortunately due to an allergic reaction to the fire ant venom I spent the morning in bed and thus missed out on anything that went on in the morning. I can say that our homeowner (who brought us cookies yesterday), brought over sandwich fixings for our lunch today!The drywall is going up very quickly, and

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-25546933550958472952008-05-21T19:58:00.003-05:002008-05-21T20:14:01.352-05:00

The work is basically hot and sweaty, sprinkled with plaster dust. The progress feels good. Working with lots of people makes the big jobs become small. What I feel the most, is, the fun of working and being with students from SUNY Geneseo. They work hard, volunteer quickly, are on time and funny. The people, the place and the task are all uplifting. Biloxi is a good thing!Dan Dimpfl

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-43552004367156041902008-05-20T23:25:00.002-05:002008-05-20T23:30:54.595-05:00

I've been trying to post some of the many pictures I am taking throughout the week. I am very limited on time and I don't want to hog all the bandwidth here, so I am putting up only a small percentage of what I will post upon my return to Geneseo. If you're enjoying the images in the blog, then click on over and see more of what we're doing right here:FlickrAnd feel free to leave comments on

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-77177604896120367332008-05-20T22:17:00.015-05:002008-05-20T23:14:47.259-05:00

began with a sense of knowing what we are doing and a great determination to get a lot of work done. With the insulation finished, there was lots more drywalling and painting today.Our homeowner, Leaster Archie, stopped in for another visit before heading home to get some sleep. See, she's been in nursing care for hospitals and long term care facilities for 29 years now, and tomorrow is her

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-77298395596495913092008-05-19T21:38:00.002-05:002008-05-19T21:42:36.513-05:00

If you're enjoying the commentary on this week's adventures, go ahead and leave a note with your thoughts! If you'll notice, at the end of each post is a notice that says "comments."If you click on this link, a new text box will open and you can just type in your thoughts and click on "Publish your comment."We're checking the blog daily, and the folks working here this week would be thrilled to

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-86465068945131449022008-05-19T20:50:00.016-05:002008-05-19T21:37:33.764-05:00

Whew! It's been a busy day! I'm going to need to keep this brief since I've only got about 20 minutes before lights out and the morning rolls around early here in Mississippi. Food is plentiful here with all the promised foods to start off the day.The entire group received an orientation to the work we've undertaken this week from Craig, a representative of HopeForce. There is no shortage of

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-45387120143656790152008-05-18T21:45:00.006-05:002008-05-18T22:17:34.191-05:00

There's nothin' quite like gooood su'thn' bah-ba-kew and The Shed was no disappointment there. BBQ chicken, baby back ribs, and pulled pork were all a hit. Cole slaw, baked beans and mac salad with a bit-o-bread completed the selection. The restaurant has quite the eclectic decor, so be sure to check out the other pictures for a lil' more flavor.After dinner, the folks in my car and I were

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-59184796300711844962008-05-18T16:33:00.006-05:002008-05-18T17:25:02.148-05:00

It was a mostly-uneventful day of travel that brought us to the Salvation Army shelter here in Biloxi. All participants have managed through the early morning flight (I left Geneseo at 4 AM, myself) and connect up with the main group. All but 2 bags have made it as well, and our deprived folks are handling the small snafu with gracious patience. We're waiting now for the 4:30 flight to come in

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-71809434086623418892007-01-15T16:16:00.000-05:002007-01-15T16:42:18.582-05:00

Working in Mississippi for the past week has been an incredible, meaningful experience for me, and one that I will never forget. In addition to meeting so many fun, interesting, and talented people from Geneseo, I enjoyed talking with other people staying at the camp from different areas of the country, as well as the locals. The physical work was surprisingly refreshing, and I always woke up

Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07093240817880024509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-26824840314085113242007-01-12T14:22:00.000-05:002007-01-12T14:24:00.774-05:00

Yesterday was my favorite day in Gulfport on this trip thus far. First of all, I woke up in a great mood ready to get back to work on the house that we had started the day before. It's always easier and more motivating to have a game plan for the day before you get to the work site.Later that morning, our house owner came to visit us since we had left her a note about wanting to meet her. She was

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-40787632535029257962007-01-12T14:20:00.000-05:002007-01-12T14:22:01.740-05:00

This is my first time coming down to Biloxi to work on the recovery. The place we're staying is really nice - the bunkhouses are made out of what seem to be train cars and though the rooms are small, we've been having a good time and enjoying the Real Southern Cooking.I've worked on two houses this week. The first belongs to a family that stayed in the house's attic during the hurricane as the

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-69106910136065873722007-01-12T14:18:00.000-05:002007-01-12T14:20:05.659-05:00

Working on homes in Biloxi has been an amazing experience. The first home I worked on I had the opportunity to meet the family that lives in the home. It was moving to hear their story and how they were impacted by the hurricane. The water level came so high in the house that the family had to take refuge in their attic. They lost almost everything in their home, and were only able to save a few

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-85240292962423924102007-01-12T14:16:00.000-05:002007-01-12T14:18:30.428-05:00

On Sunday we were given a tour by Connie Rockoco, a woman who holds a position in Harrison County that's comparable to Maggie Brooks's in Rochester. We received a our tour through much of the area, and the discrepancies in the repairs between the wealthy neighborhoods and those in poverty are so vast. In the more affluent neighborhoods, life seemed almost normal, except there was still something

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-17219569362897406192007-01-12T14:15:00.001-05:002007-01-12T14:16:00.020-05:00

The first day we were here, New Orleans was covered in a thick, heavy fog that blanketed the gutted houses, torn oaks, and broken spirits. New Orleans was an erie place that first Sunday, and everyone on the trip could feel the depth Katrina reached here; through the homes and through the families.~ Lindsay

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-35090857431077752662007-01-12T14:14:00.002-05:002007-01-12T14:15:24.236-05:00

The rain clouds of yesterday had all blown away by this morning, but there was a little frost to greet us at 6:30 am. It turned out sunny and warm after sunrise.Our task with the popcorn ceiling was challenging and VERY dusty, butwe got it done by day's end and we're ready to spray more popcorn ceiling tomorrow. We look forward to meeting the homeowner and her family, perhaps tomorrow. They have

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-87400206672808898132007-01-12T14:14:00.001-05:002007-01-12T14:14:38.676-05:00

Connie Hurlburt, Betsy and Tom Matthews are here in the dining hall at 8 talking about what we did today and thinking about what is on tap for Tuesday. All the students have gone for an evening walk to the beach.Today we worked on two houses, one in Gulfport and a second in East Biloxi. The one on Magnolia Street in Biloxi is just down the street from Ms.Daisy's house that we worked on last

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-74714291187923562852007-01-12T14:11:00.000-05:002007-01-12T14:13:33.362-05:00

I will be reposting some of the comments as full entries here on the blog. We're troubleshooting the difficulties for volunteers in posting and will get it corrected as soon as we can.

Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16579040625510814699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-28325602988718307242007-01-02T11:19:00.000-05:002007-01-02T11:25:48.387-05:00

Hello everyone going to Mississippi on Saturday. We are looking forward to our continuing work in Harrison County, Mississippi. Our hosts for the week will be the Lutheran Episcopal Disaster Response recovery center: Camp Biloxi on Pass Road in Biloxi. We hope several of you will join the CARES blog and start sharing your thoughts and reactions to your experiences in Biloxi. Each of you will

Tom Matthewsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5667914933376106420.post-66463469944874919332007-01-01T13:32:00.000-05:002007-01-01T13:35:41.890-05:00

Welcome to the new blog for Livingston County CARES!We're hoping to use this technology to gather the stories and experiences of the people involved with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts through our program.Another trip is in the works for January, so we should start seeing recent accounts soon.

TParadisnoreply@blogger.com5