Any Katrina volunteers?

So I know Hurricane Katrina was years ago now and we have had so many tragedies since then, but I can only share my personal experience. I work at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy & Practice. We have a program here that takes trips down to Mississippi 3 times a year to do volunteer work to Katrina victims who were pretty much forgotten because they are not in New Orleans. I spent a week in Bay St. Louis, MS back in March and it was a life changing experience. To see the state of that community so long after the storm. To see people still living in trailers with mold and what not. I registered people at a resource fair where we tried to match people with the appropriate agencies to meet their needs. We had reps there from organizations such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, FEMA, etc. To hear the stories and more amazingly to hear the resolve and the strength of the people who chose to stay and attempt to rebuild was inspirational to say the least. I got a chance to volunteer at an after school program at the local Boys and Girls club in the afternoons and even the kids had stories. Loved ones lost, pets lost, marriages destroyed from the emotional trauma of the storm. But when we took the kids outside to play "Duck, Duck, Goose" or "Red Rover" or "Dodge Ball" or "Football" or "Kickball" they were able, for those few hours, to lose themselves in the fun of the moment. I wasn't sure what those kids were going home to, but I know that they were going to have fun while I was around. I also got to go out with Habitat for Humanity and do some drywall work on some homes being built. I tell you, putting up a ceiling is HARD WORK!!! It was a very rewarding experience though, to know that I helped someone have a permanent residence again.

We were only an hour outside of New Orleans, so we actually flew into N.O. While there, I took a tour of the 9th Ward where the levees actually broke. I got to see a levy and understood why it didn't stand a chance! Nor did any of the houses built RIGHT ACROSS THE ROAD FROM IT!!! It was pretty sad to see stairs, a porch and a foundation where a house USED TO be. Houses literally washed away feet from there origin. Even worse was the ride TO the 9th Ward. We passed a highway over pass and there, under the bridge were a host of tents where now homeless residents lived. More tents than I could even count as we drove by. Blocks of literal tents under a highway. As I write this I can see it so clearly and remember faces and people asking for help. I acknowledge that America is a great nation. We have a LOT going for us over here and there aren't many other places that I could imagine living. However, in that moment, America didn't seem so great to me.

As Forrest would say "That's all I have to say about that..."

So if anyone else has been down, please share your experience.

It breaks my heart to hear about this still being a reality in America, where there seems to be endless money to fund a ridiculous war and line the pockets of George Dubya and his cronies while people are still living in ruins after that horrendus storm ripped through the south. Welfare is still an issue, people without health insurance, people living under the poverty line, gas at an all time high, the price of bread, milk, and all food prices are even higher, and the gaps between the rich and poor is getting wider and wider and all of this is going into the blind eyes and deaf ears of our country's big wigs. This is why Obama has to become the next president! OBAMA 08!

Hollywood, when I saw the price of bread and milk, THE BASIC GROCERIES, I knew we were in trouble. Don't even think about wanting to treat yourself to something "fancy". We struggling just to keep bread, milk, eggs and cheese in the crib. I work in development so I can tell you that even the rich are feeling it. Philanthropy has declined considerably due to the stock market being so unstable. Americans had better start being more concious consumers. This is the time to buy American made. We are still spending, but it isn't having an impact becasue we import so much and outsource so much.