Posted by a volunteer
who participated in our January volunteer trip in New Orleans.
I’ve been down in New Orleans this past week with 15 other Seattle Works folks (Patrick, Noelle, Susanna, Megan, Chris, Blake, Nora, Erin, Beth, Trisha, Kelsey, Michelle, Kristin, Laura and Gillian – with all of whom I feel I now share a special bond), and have joked several times “I just volunteer for the t-shirts.” While this has usually been my attempt at levity to try and keep the group loose and in good spirits, I now feel there is actual meaning to my statement.
I’m not one that always boasts about my volunteer activities; those close to me know I volunteer with Seattle Works regularly, that I am happy to discuss what we do, and I have even recruited some people to come join Team Works. However, I typically only wear my Seattle Works t-shirts on project days, or as lounge-around-the-house-wear; somewhat intentionally, as I have viewed my volunteerism as the very personal relationship between helping people in need and the feeling of satisfaction that I garner by helping to build a better community.
I guess what I didn’t expect from my New Orleans trip was the profound spiritual and emotional impact it would have on me. For all the city has been through, I am amazed at how resilient and friendly the local population has been: waiters and bar tenders, the principal of the elementary school in which we were working, the residents of the damaged homes still living in FEMA trailers, the congregation of a neighboring gospel church, and just passers-by on the street. Southern hospitality is not a myth, at least not in New Orleans.
Perhaps the most enlightening experience was when Shelton “Shakes” Alexander, a national poet who lived through Katrina (and is interviewed in When the Levies Broke) came to the volunteer house, shared his experience, recited several of his poems, and answered questions about the city’s recovery. Erin asked him pointedly “what more can we do to help?” Shelton answered simply “exactly what you are doing, being here.” Shelton then said it wasn’t so much the tasks we were performing; painting in schools, helping rebuilding homes, caring for animals in a shelter, etc., but rather the spirit that volunteers bring, that someone cares and is willing to help. Erin then asked “what can we do when we get back home?” Shelton responded, “Tell people about your experiences here, the destruction that is still evident, and how much more needs to be done. Hopefully, more volunteers will keep coming.”
The next day, I ventured off on my only solo excursion of the entire trip to the National World War II (D-Day) Museum. New Orleans was the production center of the Higgins boats, the beach landing craft like those seen in the movie Saving Private Ryan; of the 14,000 vessels in the U.S. Navy during the war, 8,800 were built in New Orleans, thus a good site for the museum. After viewing the exhibits, which were amazing, I ventured into the gift shop to buy, ironically, a t-shirt. The shop keeper asked “what is Seattle Works?” and I realized I was wearing my Team Works shirt, probably since it was the only thing clean on our last day! After explaining it was a volunteer community involvement organization, I mentioned that 16 of us were down here doing work to help with the Katrina recovery, and the shop keeper was really impressed and thankful for our group.
As my new friend Blake has mentioned several times during the trip, “I like interesting t-shirts, they are great conversation starters.” I couldn’t agree more. I plan on wearing my new purple Hands On New Orleans t-shirt with pride, and on collecting more volunteer t-shirts in hopes that they will all be great conversation starters and I can better pass along the kind of work being done by volunteers and how much more work is out there to be done for ours and other communities.
I really did do it all for a t-shirt.
Bryan Fiedor
