A Taste for Service
ASU students cook up plans to refresh New Orleans during spring break trip

By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
March 1, 2007

TEMPE — Instead of reaching for a beach towel during spring break, some college students will soon find themselves reaching for a paintbrush.

More than 40 Arizona State University students from the All Saints Catholic Newman Center are preparing to spend their March break transforming a New Orleans school into a community center as part of post-Hurricane Katrina rebuilding efforts.

They will also study the area’s Catholic roots and discuss social justice issues during the trip March 11-17.

“We tried to forewarn them that what they’ll see in New Orleans is going to be kind of shocking,” said Dominican Father James Thompson, the Newman Center’s associate director. He helped clean up the city last year with students from Utah.

“I’ve done some dirty work before, but this was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Fr. Thompson said, noting that he would rather shovel manure.

Yet the Dominican looks forward to returning to the area, which is still recovering from the devastating hurricanes in 2005.

Fr. Thompson, along with campus minister Lourdes Alonso and the students, plans to paint nine classrooms, hang drywall, lay tile and install kitchen cabinets. They also want to plant new trees.

“I hope we can do it all in one week,” Alonso admitted.

Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in New Orleans owns the public school. It was closed after being flooded by eight feet of water in the storm’s wake.

“The church does not have enough money to get all this work done,” Alonso said. She said it raised enough to fix the school’s air conditioning system and is still working on the electrical.

So, in addition to financing the trip, the college students plan to pack their own supplies. They need $26,000 and have already collected more than $20,000 through benefit meals such as a Mardi Gras dinner Feb. 18, campaigns, personal investments and stock sales. Each investor is invited to a luncheon after the trip to see photos and hear testimonies.

“They have a very deep commitment to helping others,” Alonso said of the students. “They have a real servant’s attitude or servant’s heart.”

Sharing their gifts

Freshmen Daniela Oliverio-Lauderdale and Mary Avila agreed to their first mission trip because they wanted to use their gifts in the community.

Oliverio-Lauderdale reasoned she had time off and wanted to make herself useful while showing the community that people “are still here to back them up.”

Avila recently studied New Orleans religion and culture in class.

“To learn so much and not do something about it would be kind of a waste,” she said.

For graduating senior Jon Frosch, the reasons are a little more personal. He didn’t experience the hurricane, but often feels like the distance prevents him from helping his hometown.

“I want to rebuild and recreate that sense of community that used to run through the place,” he said.

“The most important thing about the trip is to help students understand how we’re connected to the people of New Orleans,” Alonso said. “When part of us suffers, then all of us suffer.”

The parish, however, has recovered. Upon their arrival, Fr. Tony Ricard plans to welcome the young Catholics into his all-black faith community, for what often is a more than two-hour Mass. Then he will give them a tour of the city, including the Church’s history in it, before they set off to work for the week.

They will spend the evenings reflecting on Catholic social teaching through prayer, Mass and journaling. Fr. Ricard will lead discussions about poverty, injustice and the area’s lengthy rebuilding process. 

“We want to make it a real integrative experience for them,” the Newman Center’s Fr. Thompson said.

To donate to the trip, call the Newman Center at (480) 967-7823.