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January 13, 2007 - The Clarion Herald
Sugar Bowl's 'Sweet Revival'
By Peter Finney, Jr.
This was a huddle with a big difference.
On the eve of the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Notre Dame and LSU students and alumni set aside their partisan rooting interests to work side-by-side in refurbishing a playground, gutting flooded homes, whacking weeds and repainting a school.
Some might consider their volunteer efforts just another drop in the bucket compared to Hurricane Katrina’s widespread devastation that brought New Orleans to its knees, but try telling that to the kids in the Gentilly neighborhood who got to use the large swing set in the Mirabeau Playspot – appropriately painted Irish blue-and-gold and Tiger purple-and-gold – for the first time in 16 months.
After New Orleans’ internal levee system failed during Katrina, the tall swing set was totally submerged under 6 1/2 feet of brackish water for 16 days. Volunteers repaired and repainted the rusted hulk.
“We had the first visitors to the park today,” said Sara Galliano, project coordinator from Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, who worked alongside the Notre Dame and LSU volunteers. “A man brought his two kids over here, and they went on the swing set for the first time since the storm.”
From the minute Notre Dame knew it would be traveling to New Orleans to play LSU in the Sugar Bowl, Holy Cross Father John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame, knew his network of alumni and other student groups would want to join forces to accomplish something more meaningful than taking a midwinter sports vacation.
“We wanted to be part of this,” Father Jenkins said after lunch with volunteers at the Mirabeau Playspot. “It would have been a shame to come down here and not participate a little in the city’s efforts of rebuilding and recovery. The whole theme this week has been ‘Sweet Revival.’ The great thing about college sports is that it should bring people together for a greater sense of community.”
About 400 Notre Dame students and alumni participated in the volunteer projects in the four days leading up to the game, said Heather Tonk, director of service programs for the Notre Dame Alumni Association. Besides refurbishing the playground – which sits in the middle of a neighborhood of mostly vacant homes – the volunteers tore out Sheetrock and hauled trash from several houses in the area and repainted a school.
“We knew when Notre Dame arrived at the Sugar Bowl we had to do something as a Notre Dame family,” Tonk said. “To make a bigger impact, we worked with Catholic Charities so that they could identify projects for us to work on. We had never done anything on this scale before, but after this we’ll probably try to do something like this for future bowl games. There’s a need in every city, probably even in Pasadena.”
Notre Dame officials made a conscious effort to reach out to its traveling alumni. It sent out e-mails and newsletters informing prospective Sugar Bowl visitors that there would be opportunities for service work in New Orleans. Volunteer sign-up sheets were included along with information on hotel travel packages and game tickets.
“Instead of going to Pat O’Brien’s (a French Quarter bar) you could come out and clean a park,” said Tony Anthony, whose wife coordinates the travel program at Notre Dame.
The volunteers unearthed some surprises. A cement-and-brick welcome sign for Mirabeau Gardens had been so covered with weeds that not even the locals knew it was still there until volunteers wielding shovels and weed-whackers uncovered it and then landscaped it with small plants.
“Some of the volunteers were so excited with what happened they asked if they could come back today,” Anthony said.
Anne Steves, Father Jenkins’ sister, was among those painting the playground equipment on Tuesday.
“It’s so nice when people are spending a couple grand on a trip and they don’t want to do the ‘tourist thing,’” Steves said. “I wish I could give more hours. It’s just such a great feeling.”
Wanda Kemp and her husband Michael, who live in Maryland, came to New Orleans because their daughter Michelle is a Notre Dame student. They also have a relative whose home, located just a few blocks from the Mirabeau Playspot, was inundated by Katrina. The Kemps used a pair of weed-eating lawn mowers to clear the overgrown front lawn of a house on Chatham Drive and raked the debris into a mountain on the curb.
“We had been wanting to come down for awhile,” Wanda Kemp said. “Then when the game came up, it gave us the opportunity. There are just so many problems in the city, and people feel like they’re fighting a losing battle. Everyone here has to go home and call their senators and congressmen and show them these pictures. Honestly, most of the country doesn’t understand it. They think it’s over, but it’s not. I think we’re going to end up coming back.”
There have been so many thousands of volunteers who have helped with repairs following Katrina that Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu has coined the term “volun-tourism” to describe the effort. Landrieu said virtually every convention that has come to New Orleans since Katrina has included a service component in its regular meeting agenda, and Landrieu expects those efforts to expand in 2007.
“We are encouraging people not just to enjoy the great food, fun and music of this region but also to help us rebuild,” Landrieu said. “That kind of help is great for the giver and great for the person who receives the help. Notre Dame has prided itself on social justice and on service, and it was great to have them out there today along with many, many people from LSU.”
Landrieu said some tourists are extending their New Orleans vacations by a day or two to get involved with rebuilding projects.
“That helps us twice,” Landrieu said. “They are putting money into our economy with their visit and also helping us rebuild.”
Father Jenkins said he first visited New Orleans in October 2005, just one month after Katrina. He said his latest visit gives him a sense that “the city’s come so far. There’s still a long way to go, but it’s been great to see the progress that’s being made.”
He said the volunteer experience has enriched so many students and alumni that he would like to see it continued in future years.
“It was a great idea,” Father Jenkins said. “Anything that can be done to draw people together to help this area that’s been hurt by such a natural disaster is wonderful. It’s good for New Orleans and for the people who are helping.”
Teamwork was evident everywhere on Tuesday. In the interest of fair play, volunteers painted a Notre Dame and an LSU emblem on each side of the playground slide. The irony is a Notre Dame student painted the LSU emblem.
“They did a nice job,” said LSU cheerleader Monica Polemeni.
“They were awesome – really nice,” added cheerleader Ricky McDonald.
Obviously, this was more than a game.
(Anyone interested in volunteering to aid in the recovery can call Operation Helping Hands of Cathlic Charities at 504-895-5439; other volunteer information is available through the Louisiana lieutenant governor’s office at 225-342-7009 or www.crt.state.la.us.)
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