economicstimulusbeginsathome

On a Tuesday afternoon -- Mardi Gras to be more precise -- a group of seniors at Foxboro High School sat around a table in an otherwise sleepy library after school. A couple of these National Honor Society students had festive purple, green and gold Mardi Gras beads draped around their necks.

After giving up a week of February vacation -- that very well could have been used for catching up on homework, college paperwork, or even sitting in front of the TV with Xbox, or simply sleeping -- the group reflected and shared stories on their recently-completed whirlwind tour to the Louisiana Gulf Coast with New England Patriots defensive lineman Jarvis Green to work and pitch in to the seemingly never-ending process of restoring the hurricane-ravaged region.

The students, festooned with the beads, the quintessential New Orleans keepsake, said that their hearts remained in the Big Easy on its most special day one week later.

"When you drive down the street, a lot of the houses look fine," Blair Read said. "But when you go inside, you realize that it's a disaster -- still."

Unusual vacation

Anthony Bassignani, Martin and Vincent Golemme, Leah MacCallum, Pat Mitchell, Caelan Pacelli, Seana Peterson, Andrea Sosnowski, Stephanie Storer and Read wanted to do something different.

And they did.

They spent their February vacation in Green's hometown of Donaldsonville, La., which was just one of countless communities devastated in Hurricane Katrina's wake.

In the planning stages, it was apparent that the trip would need some serious financial backing. The students were planning to have everyone on the trip raise $300 each to finance their own way to Louisiana.

"We had already been planning on giving up Christmas presents," Peterson quipped.

They stillhad their doubts, even as Green stepped in to assist with financing for the trip and setting the group up with deserving projects to work on in the area.

"Words can't describe it," said NHS co-advisor Caitlin Annicelli, who accompanied the students on their trip along with fellow advisor Kelly Shaughnessy.

"I can't say enough about this group and how much time they put into it, to do it, to organize it, and we put it all on their shoulders. They took it on. And they didn't stop even when we told them that this was going to be hard."

Not anywhere near the hardships the Louisiana residents had endured.

"Everybody there was grateful and generous to us," McCallum said. "They said, 'Oh, you're giving up your February vacation to help us.' We weren't really doing all that much. They were the ones who lost everything. Compared to that, what they've lost, it's nothing."

Despite the hardships the locals have endured, the Foxboro group was struck by how upbeat and friendly everybody they met seemed.

"It gives you a whole different appreciation for the term Southern Hospitality," Vincent Golemme said of his experience. "You get nothing but smiles in the Big Easy. When you think of everything these people have gone through and how cheerful they are, it's amazing."

The amazing Ms. Johnson

That was particularly true of "Ms. Johnson," a 90-year-old Donaldsonville resident whom Green selected for the NHS members to help. Throughout the week, the group completed the process of rebuilding Ms. Johnson's kitchen, using sledgehammers to bring down drywall and then rebuilding the space from the floor up.

No small project indeed, but those are the type of projects that have gone largely untouched in the recovery from the disaster that have severely affected the quality of life across the region, particularly for the elderly.

Plus, the students didn't mind putting in a little sweat equity.

"I'm keeping my hard hat in my locker," Sosnowski said.

The project also came with a little bit of friendly competition and it came down to the very end as the students were trying to wrap up painting on Ms. Johnson's kitchen with just two hours remaining before they were supposed to leave for their flight home.

"The boys were trying to race the girls in completing projects," Anicelli said. "We had some fun with that throughout the week, but it was nice because everybody came together at the end of the week when we realized we had to get this done and we were literally painting up until the point that we had to leave to catch our flight."

While some turpentine might have been in order to clean up for the journey home, the feeling of their accomplishments will reverberate with the group for years to come.

"Just when Ms. Johnson came in and saw her new kitchen and she was so overwhelmed," Read said. "I think we all had that feeling that we made that happen. That was great. I think that's something we'll take with us to college and for the rest of our lives."

There will be other memories, too.

"I don't think Jarvis [Green] is your typical pro athlete," Martin Golemme said. "He was there, working with us. One time, he pulled out his Super Bowl rings and said, 'Here you go. Try them on. Have fun with them.' That was pretty cool."

All the work was certainly worth the while.

"Definitely Blair [Read] and Seana [Peterson] were the driving forces behind this," said Mitchell, who serves as president of the NHS chapter. "Everybody would say, 'This is only a few months away, I don't know how feasible this is.' And they just said, 'We're doing this.' And we did."

Originally, they had planned field trips into the itinerary. But as the group set goals for the amount of work they wanted to get done during their time on the bayou, those plans were scrapped in order to spend more time on the tasks at hand.

"That would have been nice, but I think we're all happy with the work that we put in," Mitchell added. "That's much more rewarding."

"I just need to catch up on some sleep now," Storer added.

But there's always April vacation for that.

"Economic Stimulus Begins At Home"

The Web Page of the

Charity for Economic Empowerment of the North Country

"This web page is for those who volunteered to be part of our effort to make a real difference for some elderly homeowners who are unable to perform interior home repairs. We strive to help those who cannot easily help themselves while stimulating our local economy and community."

Project News for College Spring Break, 2009

Project house #3: Walter in Peru needs a new 9 pane front door, 36" left hinge, and a screen. He also needs a 36" left hinge door for the back where he keeps the supply of wood to heat his home. He has lived in the same house for almost forty years, and is a sweet man.

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link to column:Economic Recovery Begins at Home

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