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Thanksgiving in Biloxi, Mississippi

Two faculty members from the Department of Health Sciences, Tammy Wagner, PhD, RD (Dietetics) and Cynthia Cadieux, PhD, RD (Dietetics), with support from the department and the College of Integrated Science and Technology, volunteered to travel with 56 students, faculty and staff to provide relief work for victims of hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, Mississippi during the week of Thanksgiving 2005. Biloxi suffered a 30 foot storm surge on August 29, 2005 in addition to the driving rain and winds in excess of 100 mph.

The JMU team left at 5 AM on Saturday November 20th traveling for 14-15 hours, arriving in Biloxi at 9 PM. The trip was organized by the Center for Service Learning at JMU and coordinated through National Relief Network, based in Greenville, Michigan. Housing in Biloxi was provided by a local church where for six nights the group was given access to several rooms for recreation and where air mattresses could be set up for sleeping.

With the exception of sleeping, all activities (showering, eating, etc.) took place at the Community Recovery Center, which was the former VFW Post. Each morning the team reported at 7 AM to eat breakfast and receive work assignments for the day. The team was subdivided into 4-5 smaller teams comprised of a student leader, a faculty or staff leader and 8-10 students. Teams were deployed to neighborhoods to primarily deconstruct houses that had endured prolonged water damage as a result of the devastating flooding. The instructions at each site were simple – everything had to go. Teams were directed to remove everything in the houses except the framing. Debris was removed, floors, walls and ceilings came down, appliances and plumbing fixtures were hauled to the curb, and trees and limbs were removed from roofs. The goal was to get the houses ready for future teams to come in to rebuild, where appropriate.

Not all activities involved preparing houses for rebuilding. On Wednesday of the week teams walked through the community locating residents and inviting them to the Community Recovery Center for Thanksgiving Day activities, which included eating, making crafts with kids, dancing, and watching football games on television. Drs. Wagner and Cadieux could be found setting up tables and chairs, deep-frying and preparing turkeys, serving food, cleaning up and talking with people from the community. Thanksgiving Day was a busy day that started at 6 AM, not in Biloxi but in Bayou la Batrie, Louisiana where the team went to help serve a Thanksgiving meal for an anticipated large crowd prior to traveling back to Biloxi for the events there. The sentiment felt by most on the team was that their 2005 Thanksgiving was one of the best ever.

At the conclusion of the week, the team’s accomplishments were: prepared 10-12 houses for rebuilding, set up, prepared and shared a Thanksgiving meal with hundreds of Katrina victims, organized the community site supplies, and learned much about the process of relief work in the United States. Confirmed by many, the JMU team made a huge impression on the people working and living in Biloxi. Plans are underway for a return trip as the need for rebuilding assistance will exist in the Gulf area for many years.