Geneva responds to hurricane victims

As Hurricane Katrina punished the Gulf Coast, several Geneva College students sat watching the news footage in silence, wondering what they could do when the destruction ended.

These students have a personal connection to the tragedy: Among the New Orleans buildings that were ripped apart by Katrina’s rage are houses that were fixed and painted by Geneva students during the college’s annual trip to the city. Over the past four years, a group of seven to fifteen students has worked with an organization called Trinity Christian Community (TCC) During its most recent trip in May, the group fixed up and painted two houses owned by elderly women and helped TCC with a building project.

“It’s kind of an after school program for kids to go and learn how to read and do better in their studies,” says senior engineering major Eric Holland, who has traveled to New Orleans for the past three years. This year the group also helped build a playground for children in the neighborhood.

At night, the group would head down to the French Quarter, walking along Bourbon Street and the neighboring avenues, usually ending up at a park surrounded by the homeless and tourists.

“We would stand around and talk to people, or pass out tracks or sing worship songs,” Holland says. “It’s a really cool aspect. It’s a part of the city that I miss the most. I miss a lot of the people that I met on the streets.”

After the storm hit, McKee Hall resident director and trip leader Wendy Van Wyhe opened up her apartment for the concerned group to gather and watch news of the storm.

“It made it real for us,” Van Wyhe says.

Holland spent five and a half hours watching the interviews and video. “It was a rough day,” he says.

“It’s hard to see a place where you’ve spent so much time working and getting to know people get kind of wiped out. Many of these people are homeless. We don’t know where they’re at or what happened to them,” says Van Wyhe. “But I know we have a sovereign God, and I’m not going to question his will. I’m going to continue to serve and continue to pray for the city.”

The storm moved other Geneva students as well. Shortly after the storm hit, several students visited the office of Larry Hardesty, associate dean of student development, with questions about relief efforts. They began to formulate a plan.

Hardesty invited all concerned students to convene for a brainstorming meeting.

 

“The majority of students didn’t come to that meeting saying ‘I want to help raise money,’” Hardesty says. “They said ‘I want to go.’” The group decided that raising funds was the wisest option until the situation in New Orleans stabilized.

Several ideas emerged from that meeting. One was meal donations. Students gave up their weekend meals, raising over $450.

Senior communication major Erica Wachtel, who partnered with junior sociology major Cliff Eckrich for the meal donation project and other efforts, appreciates the college’s efforts.

“I think that Geneva College and Larry Hardesty did a great job at letting us students become the servant leaders to help transform society through it,” she said. “Geneva, the faculty and the corporate end of Geneva, is stepping in and helping us students with whatever we need for this, but they’re letting us become the leaders and serve the community and those that have nothing.”

Hardesty continues to be impressed by the compassion and drive of students who wanted to help, and by the faculty members who stood behind every decision that the students made.

“I’ve been impressed by athletic coaches and their teams stepping up, impressed by students stepping forward, impressed by student leaders getting information out to their students on campus, and each of the heads of the committees have just stepped up and really done things,” he said.

The basketball teams raised $3,000 through a car wash. A pepperoni roll sale brought in $300, and students donated an additional $650 in cash. And the effort continues.

Wachtel is optimistic about the student efforts and hopes the passion doesn’t fade.

“We’re just hoping that this won’t stop as the tension dies down,” she says.

“I don’t want it to be like ‘we did our part and that’s it.’ I’m hoping to see donation cans at the basketball games this winter, the girls softball games, the baseball games in the spring. It’s an ongoing effort—don’t let it just fall by the wayside,” she said.

Van Wyhe is planning the next Geneva trip to New Orleans, which could take place between  fall break and Christmas.

“We’ll most likely be rebuilding, one step at a time. We may just be helping one family clean their house, or rebuild what needs to be built,” says Van Wyhe. “We need to simply be faithful, whether it means we go down and serve or be faithful with our resources. We’re called to serve, and we can use our gifts and our time.”