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 thank you, thank you, thank you.
I know they worked very hard on site and I heard many of the construction supervisors saying that they wish your teams where back down here this week because they miss the energy and hard work attitude. It's really nice when two organizations can work together to meet the needs of volunteers in different ways. I'm glad we've been able to house your teams and EBCC has done a great job at providing good work projects. A success all around. (Even more successful when you guys bring awesome volunteers!)
Please pass along my thanks to everyone from last week's team so I have a chance to tell them how great they were and how much we miss them! If any of them are interested in keeping in touch with the camp I can add them to the email newsletter list. Keep spreading the word
and blessings again for supporting our mission and helping the Gulf Coast continue to rebuild.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Thursday- Day 4
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, drywall, and carpenty.
Steven, Jarrod and Kaelyn: Second coat of paint was applied. Finished some touch-ups on the walls. Dusted and varnished plywood boards for the ceiling. These teams were also fortunate to have pizza given to them by their homeowner who spent lunch with us. She shared her story of her experience during the storm-- she spent 8 hours in her attic with water constantly rising. She was able to save nothing from her house and lives in a Mima trailer behind her house.
The big highlight of today was seeing a house dedication. It was one of the houses that Livingston CARES worked on in January. The family was there and thanked all the volunteers for their support of Biloxi's rebuilding. They provided food and let us walk through their BEAUTIFUL home. For those of you in January, I will definitely send pictures! It was really important for us to see that our work DOES matter and that we are able to impact the lives of others.
We also went to a bonfire on the Gulf of Mexico beach. We'll miss this when we're back in New York!
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, drywall, and carpenty.
Steven, Jarrod and Kaelyn: Second coat of paint was applied. Finished some touch-ups on the walls. Dusted and varnished plywood boards for the ceiling. These teams were also fortunate to have pizza given to them by their homeowner who spent lunch with us. She shared her story of her experience during the storm-- she spent 8 hours in her attic with water constantly rising. She was able to save nothing from her house and lives in a Mima trailer behind her house.
The big highlight of today was seeing a house dedication. It was one of the houses that Livingston CARES worked on in January. The family was there and thanked all the volunteers for their support of Biloxi's rebuilding. They provided food and let us walk through their BEAUTIFUL home. For those of you in January, I will definitely send pictures! It was really important for us to see that our work DOES matter and that we are able to impact the lives of others.
We also went to a bonfire on the Gulf of Mexico beach. We'll miss this when we're back in New York!
Wednesday!
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 dedicated to serving Southern Mississippi!
Here's what our groups have been up to:
Kaelyn, Steven, and Jarrod: finished priming and texturizing the house. We did our first coat of paint on the house
Mark and Alyssa's team: Installed drywall, and did some carpentry
Lea and Lwam's team: More demolition. Their work was temporarily put on hold due to a full dumpster (with no funds to remove the debris)
Wednesday night we went out to the Shed (a Livingston CARES tradition!) They specialize in BBQ and it's a great place to hang out.
We're halfway there!
Here's what our groups have been up to:
Kaelyn, Steven, and Jarrod: finished priming and texturizing the house. We did our first coat of paint on the house
Mark and Alyssa's team: Installed drywall, and did some carpentry
Lea and Lwam's team: More demolition. Their work was temporarily put on hold due to a full dumpster (with no funds to remove the debris)
Wednesday night we went out to the Shed (a Livingston CARES tradition!) They specialize in BBQ and it's a great place to hang out.
We're halfway there!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Tuesday!
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, doors, closets. Working on cleaning and caulking the siding. Replacing some sheetrock
Alyssa's Team: Installation of blinds, cleaning up the house
Lea's and Lwam's Team: Demolition Derby in Progress! Gutting an entire house, removing materials, stripped porches, floors
Steven's, Kaelyn's, and Jarrod's Team: Painting exterior of house, more joint compounding & mudding
We've also had some fun along the way with playing board games, watching a documentary about Hurricane Katrina, and meeting new friends.
Plan's for the Week:
Wednesday- Dinner at the Shed
Thursday- House dedication @ 5:00, ice cream
Friday- packing up & saying goodbye
Here's an update on our progress:
Mark's Team: Finished priming, tore out carpet, painted shelves, doors, closets. Working on cleaning and caulking the siding. Replacing some sheetrock
Alyssa's Team: Installation of blinds, cleaning up the house
Lea's and Lwam's Team: Demolition Derby in Progress! Gutting an entire house, removing materials, stripped porches, floors
Steven's, Kaelyn's, and Jarrod's Team: Painting exterior of house, more joint compounding & mudding
We've also had some fun along the way with playing board games, watching a documentary about Hurricane Katrina, and meeting new friends.
Plan's for the Week:
Wednesday- Dinner at the Shed
Thursday- House dedication @ 5:00, ice cream
Friday- packing up & saying goodbye
Monday, March 16, 2009
First Day of Work!
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 house
Alyssa's team: working on a house that is nearly completed, finsihing the floorboard trim, some extra painting, installing handicapable guardrails in a bathroom
Mark's team: working on scaffolding, roofing, and priming the inside of the house
Lwam and Lea's team: demolition derby! they are tearing down a 2 story house this week (lots of sledge-hammering and hauling away debris)
Some volunteers chose to go out tonight to the Beau Rivage and Hard Rock Casino. It was a good time!
We're ready to rest up for tomorrow & look forward to getting a lot done!
Our assignments are:
Steven, Kaelyn, and Jordan's team: working on sheetrocking, mudding, and sanding a house
Alyssa's team: working on a house that is nearly completed, finsihing the floorboard trim, some extra painting, installing handicapable guardrails in a bathroom
Mark's team: working on scaffolding, roofing, and priming the inside of the house
Lwam and Lea's team: demolition derby! they are tearing down a 2 story house this week (lots of sledge-hammering and hauling away debris)
Some volunteers chose to go out tonight to the Beau Rivage and Hard Rock Casino. It was a good time!
We're ready to rest up for tomorrow & look forward to getting a lot done!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
What a Long Day!
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 Hurricane Katrina Memorial. We had orientations at Camp Victor and did some "get to know you" games.
We're excited to start our workday tomorrow!
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 Hurricane Katrina Memorial. We had orientations at Camp Victor and did some "get to know you" games.
We're excited to start our workday tomorrow!
Friday, March 13, 2009
The 14th Trip to Mississippi!
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, we plan to spend some time on the beach and do a driving tour of the Biloxi/Gulfport area.
Work starts Monday morning at the East Biloxi Center with an orientation and then it's off to work! We have 8 wonderful team captains and Amanda, Marissa, and Elise as our coordinators for this trip.
We're all a little nervous, but very excited to meet new friends and do some amazing work together!
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, we plan to spend some time on the beach and do a driving tour of the Biloxi/Gulfport area.
Work starts Monday morning at the East Biloxi Center with an orientation and then it's off to work! We have 8 wonderful team captains and Amanda, Marissa, and Elise as our coordinators for this trip.
We're all a little nervous, but very excited to meet new friends and do some amazing work together!
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