Lessons Learned in New Orleans
Posted by Tyler Calder on Monday, April 25, 2011
Since returning from a week-long service trip (with some French Quarter adventures sprinkled in after the work day), memories of the Big Easy have consumed my mind and my heart. It’s been nearly six years since the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, and it would be an injustice to not point out that there are still areas that look like the hurricane happened yesterday. However, in the face of all the work still left to be done, what struck me was the feeling of hope, progress, appreciation, and pride in the city that was apparent in almost every New Orleans native I met.
On the first workday, we worked on the garden and in the classrooms of the John McDonough School (a Knowledge is Power Program charter school). We learned that faced with the massive challenge of rebuilding the educational system, New Orleans still has a long way to go, but it is on the forefront of education reform in this country. To me, it was so evident how many people continue to work tirelessly to create an effective system so the people of New Orleans can take pride in their schools and trust that they are adequately preparing the city’s children for a bright future.
Learning so much about how Katrina affected the child population in New Orleans only further convinced me of how important No Kid Hungry is in New Orleans. Many families are struggling to recover from Katrina still, which means severe poverty and severe food insecurity. Furthermore, many parts of New Orleans are still food desserts, with few grocery stores. No Kid Hungry empowers families to gain access to the programs they need so that no child is held back from having the brightest future possible because they can’t afford to have a nutritious and balanced diet.
As the end of the school year draws near, No Kid Hungry New Orleans has made summer meals their focus with help from local partners also involved with the Summer Food Initiative. In 2010, they found that of the 32,000 kids who were eligible to receive free summer meals, only 13% received them. From there, they were able to create a comprehensive map to target underserved neighborhoods for 2011. They have been working very closely with Second Harvest Food Bank to help them expand their summer meals program to 25-30 sites for the upcoming strategy. To get the word out about all of these resources, NKH New Orleans is engaging the New Orleans community to advertise schools with local sites as well as putting all of the summer food sites on the 2-1-1 Hotline’s website. By helping families help themselves, No Kid Hungry New Orleans is helping to eradicate childhood hunger.
One night, at dinner, our waiter asked why we were in New Orleans, to which we answered that we were working with a school in the area as well with Habitat for Humanity. This sparked conversation about Katrina. He told us about his family’s immense struggle to get back on their feet financially after their house had been completely destroyed by the hurricane. As he detailed their journey, we tried to soak it in. After all, he and his family and the thousands in a similar position were the reason we were there to begin with. After we had eaten, he brought us a check, which showed a drastically smaller number than we were expecting. When we questioned it, he just thanked us for what we were doing to help his city, and said the check was fine. It’s that type of appreciation and hope that their city could one day be restored that was the spirit that was exemplified in so many other people we met in New Orleans. I learned that the people of NOLA are resilient, hard-working and appreciate the help of those willing to work alongside them and it proved to be a life-changing experience to be able to help rebuild a city that we all came to care about so much.
April 25, 2011 | 0 comment(s) | Tags: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, No Kid Hungry, summer meals, volunteering
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