For the second straight year, Memorial Day weekend was especially meaningful for 14 Elon faculty, staff and students who continued the university's commitment to the hurricane-ravaged town of Bay St. Louis, Miss. The group performed more than 350 hours of relief work during the trip, coordinated by the Kernodle Center for Service Learning...
Students Tonya Albert, Emily Kamischke, and Carla Rogers led the group in work on a new house, applying tar paper and siding to the entire house during the three-day trip. Participants included students Chris Ford and Sarah Schupp, faculty Rich D’Amato and Emily Morgan, staff members Nadia Alamo, Steve Anderson, Smith Jackson, Mary Morrison and Mary Wise, and Elon Dining Services staff members Rita Gordish and Paul Hallowell.
During mass on Sunday, May 27, Father Tracey of our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church once again recognized Elon as the first group of people who came to the community’s aid after Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. He thanked Elon for its significant and ongoing effort to help rebuild the church and the Bay St. Louis community.
Other highlights for the group included a crawfish boil by two resident families who met Elon students during an earlier Spring Break trip, and meeting 2007 Elon graduate Mollie Dugan, who has committed a year to coordinating volunteer efforts on behalf of Our Lady of the Gulf.
“We wanted to give faculty and staff the opportunity to experience first-hand the profound growth and learning our students gained through service trips to Bay St. Louis during the past two years” said Smith Jackson, vice president for student life and chair of the Elon Hurricane Katrina Relief Steering Committee.
A 2005 fall break trip was the first of 10 trips that have been made by Elon delegations during Winter Term, the break between Winter Term and Spring semester, and during spring break.