Presbytery of Olympia Disaster Response Work Group

October 25-31, 2009

When:  October 25 – 31, 2009   If the airline schedule works better for you, you may arrive either on Saturday, October 24 or Monday, October 26.  You may also leave on Sunday, November 1.  Also, people who cannot come for the entire week are welcome to come when they can – especially pastors who cannot take a Sunday off.

Where:  We will be staying at the PDA camp in east New Orleans called Olive Tree.  The village is housed in a former church building which once housed the Eastminster Presbyterian Church.  Later it was used as a day care center.  PDA has renovated this building for our comfort and enjoyment.

What Will We Be Doing:  Work sites will be assigned when we arrive and will depend upon the skills that individuals bring.  Reconstruction work could involve some interior framing, replacing windows, drywall installation and finishing, painting, installing floor and wall tiles, etc.  Pretty much anything that is required to finish a house that has been stripped to the studs and damaged in high winds and flooding.  Some of the work will be detailed and tedious – painting window trim, for instance.  Other work will require strength and endurance. 

Cost:   $300 plus transportation to and from your home to the New Orleans airport.  Some scholarships are available.

Please send your $300 to the Presbytery Office with a registration form.  15508 Portland Ave SW, Lakewood, WA 98498

Who can go?  Everyone from 18 years of age and up is invited to go. Also, youth ages 16 & 17 may go if accompanied by a parent or guardian.   You decide if you have the physical ability and condition to participate, though people of all ages and abilities and conditions have successfully joined us.  Each person is allowed/encouraged to work at their own pace and to the best of their ability.  Your skill level will help determine what you do in New Orleans, though we will offer some skill training on the job. 

Transportation:  Each participant is responsible for making plane reservations and paying for their own transportation from the airport of their choice (generally either SeaTac or Portland airports) to the airport in New Orleans.  Some of your $300 participation fee will be used to fund the cost of rental vehicles in New Orleans.  We will use them to provide all your transportation needs after you arrive in New Orleans.  We will arrange to pick you up at the airport when you arrive and also to return you to the airport when you depart.  We will also use the vans to travel to and from the work sites, as well as to do some touring of the city on Friday.  PDA recommends buying travel insurance to cover the possibility that you might need to cancel your trip.  If a hurricane is predicted for the time of our visit, we will be told to stay home.  And of course your own personal life could change, necessitating cancellation of the trip for you.  (However, my travel agent [yes, I still use one!] always recommends against travel insurance, so use your best judgment on this one).

Sleeping Accommodations:  All of our “housing needs” are provided inside the Olive Tree Village buildings.  You will be sleeping in one big room with as many as 14 other people.  Personal space is very limited.  Bunk beds are the order of the day.  The mattresses are made by the Louisiana Prison System and are 4 inches thick and very firm [i.e., like a rock].  You may want to bring your own sleeping pad (Therma-rest works well or a foam “egg carton” pad).  You will need to bring a light weight sleeping bag.  Sleeping rooms are former Sunday school rooms and are heated and air conditioned so heavy sleeping bags aren’t necessary.  Alternatively you could bring sheets and blankets.  However, the mattresses are not thick enough for fitted sheets.  You will also need a pillow case and may want to bring your own pillow.  Again, the pillows are made in the prison system and are vinyl covered and less than luxurious.  If you need some of these “extras” and don’t have room in your luggage, we will make arrangements to get them from nearby stores such as Target or K-Mart or Wal-Mart.  We can also make arrangements to donate them to an appropriate charity when we leave.  Some people have chosen to leave them at the village for future volunteers to use.

Personal Hygiene Accommodations:  Each sleeping room accommodates 15 beds.  Snoring is common among the sleepers, so you may find ear plugs to be helpful.  There are some plug ins for breathing machines, if you need one.  Each sleeping room has one flush toilet and sinks with running water.  An auxiliary building with extra toilets and sinks is out the door and down the path (but it does have hot and cold running water and flush toilets).  Porta-potties sometimes supplement the toilet facilities.  Laundry machines are also available in this building.  If they are busy and you are in a hurry a Laundromat is located a few blocks away.

Another auxiliary building features real, live showers.  This also is “out the door and down the path”.  Since you will walk outside from the sleeping rooms to the shower house, so you will want to bring some kind of shower shoes and perhaps a robe to wear in public.  The weather could be beautiful or cold and rainy, so you will want something that will keep you comfortable outside.

Personal Gear and Clothing:  The work can be dirty and messy.  Bring old clothes you don’t want to save.  Some folks on previous trips decided to throw their clothes away at the end of the week.  Others took them home to wash.  Some folks find it wise to shop for work clothes at Goodwill or Value Village so they can dispose of them before returning home.

We have cleverly planned to be in Louisiana in October when the weather is fairly decent.  However, any kind of weather is possible from hot and muggy to stormy and cool.  We have experienced extremely heavy rains, 40 degree cold, and “perfect summer days” during previous trips at this time of year. 

Having said that, Long sleeves and long pants are generally appropriate for the work site, though we often work in T-shirts.  Also, you will need substantial work shoes or boots (steel shanks are recommended to protect from stepping on nails but not required).  Rubber boots are not required (unless another storm floods the city before we arrive).  Your own gloves and hat are also essentials.  Rain gear could come in handy.  Necessary tools will be provided on site, but if you want to bring some personal hand tools (such as your favorite hammer), be sure to put them in your checked baggage.  TSA would not be impressed with a hammer or chain saw in your carry on luggage!  Remember that current regulations limit checked baggage to 50 pounds.  There is a substantial charge for overweight luggage and some airlines are charging extra fees for checked bags.

Food:  Food is provided by the camp and is paid for out of the $300 participation fee.  The camp is set up so that members of the volunteer teams cook for the group (breakfast and dinner) on a rotating basis, so plan to help with preparing several meals while we are there.  The volunteers staying at the village will include mission teams from other churches, not just our group, and the cooking is for the whole crowd (maximum of about 90 people).  The village kitchen is available for our use.

Please note:   Your $300 registration fee will include a dinner in a nice restaurant on Friday night.  Some of our work teams have chosen to eat lunch in local restaurants.  This has several advantages.  It makes lunch more interesting than a sandwich and an apple.  It provides needed support for the local businesses.  And we find some fabulous, out of the way places to eat in a city famous for its food.

Health and Safety Issues:  PDA requires that all participants have health insurance!  On our previous trips to New Orleans we encountered little in the way of safety risks.  Primarily you need a dust mask (provided on site) to protect your lungs in dusty conditions – especially if drywall finishing is in process.  You also need to be current on your tetanus booster, since we will encounter rusty nails in the construction sites.  There is a small risk of meeting up with snakes and spiders and mean, nasty, ugly bugs, but mostly you will want mosquito repellent and sunscreen.  Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is also recommending we be vaccinated against Hepatitis B, a good idea, except the three shots are supposed to be spread over 6 months.  Consult your personal physician for recommendations.  For more information on health issues, go to www.pcusa.org/health/usa/healthinfo/katrinaworkers.htm.

Other expectations of volunteers:

Clean up:  Volunteer groups staying at the Olive Tree Village are asked to take their turn at cleaning the kitchen and common areas of the village, including the bathrooms.  We are also expected to keep the personal space around our bunk reasonably clean.

Worship and Fellowship:  Normally there is some kind of devotional experience provided by the volunteers morning and evening each day.  We will be asked to take our turn.  We may also choose to spend some time together as a group in reflection and prayer.  If you have skills for leading worship and music, please let us know.  We especially appreciate those who can bring and play guitars.  Pastors are especially encouraged to join us on the trip

What kind of work will we be doing?  Unless the 2009 hurricane season brings new devastation to the area, most of the work being done in New Orleans is reconstruction work. There could still be houses in need of “mucking out”- though this is now rare.  We need both experienced professionals and do-it-yourselfers, as well as people willing to help and be trained for some of the tasks.  Be sure to let us know ahead of time if you have specific construction skills or some other skill you think might be useful.  If you plan early for this trip, you may find it helpful to attend some skill training sessions at Home Depot or maybe even remodel your own house to gain skills for the experience J!

Will we have fun?  The experience has proved to be highly emotional and even disturbing for some folks.  Some people find it increases their frustration with our government officials.  You will be touched by the lives of the people we help.  You will likely come away knowing that you have had an incredible experience of God’s Kingdom, including working with some wonderful people from our great presbytery.  And, just to add a little spice and emotional relief to the trip, we will plan on spending the day Friday experiencing the culture and history of south Louisiana.  This is an opportunity to enjoy the sights, sounds, and tastes of one of America’s fabulous places.  Possibilities include tours of the bayous, dinner and jazz on a sternwheeler, historical tours, or just poking around New Orleans.  Some may even wish to tour the rest of the devastated Gulf Coast or go west into the devastation from Hurricane Ike.  The cost of these experiences is NOT included in your participation fee, although Friday dinner will be at a restaurant and that cost is covered by your $300 registration fee.

If you want to learn about what happened in New Orleans during and immediately following the Hurricane and flooding, recommended reading includes Eye of the Storm by Sally Forman.  Sally was Communications Director for the City of New Orleans during this terrible time.  Her account is personal, memorable and gives us a window on what was happening to the mayor of New Orleans and his staff during the early days of the disaster.  Her reflections are useful in understanding how overwhelming this disaster was and why it seemed to be so hard to make any of the rescue efforts work properly.  The Presbytery of Olympia has a copy in our Resource Center that may be checked out or secure a copy from your favorite book distributor.

We also recommend Spike Lee’s “When the Levees Broke, A Requiem in Four Acts”, a 4 disc DVD that is stunning.  His perspective is of the regular folks who lost homes, family members, etc.  Many of the featured families are African American.  This resource is also available for check out from the Presbytery Resource Center.

Presbytery of Olympia Disaster Relief Trip

Katrina-October 25-31, 2009

Registration Form

Name:_____________________________________           Email:_____________________________

Birthdate_____________      Gender M___ F____             Phone:____________________________

Address:____________________________________         City___________ State_____ Zip______

Church Name________________________________         Cell Phone:________________________

Emergency Contact Information

Name_______________________________________        Address___________________________

City_______________________________ State_____       Zip_____ Phone____________________

Special Skills(construction or otherwise – you never know what might be useful in New Orleans):

Allergies or Medical Conditions we should know about:

Questions?  Contact Steve Klump 360-864-2482  presbyter@toledotel.com

You may email this form to Steve Klump or snail mail to

Presbytery of Olympia           15508 Portland Ave SW        Lakewood, WA 98498

Your $300 registration check should be mailed to the Presbytery office.

We look forward to your participation in this exciting mission adventure.