NBC29Rebuilding New Orleans: 60 Local Volunteers Journey to the Big Easy

Rebuilding New Orleans: 60 Local Volunteers Journey to the Big Easy

Reported by Dana Hackett
November 20, 2006 

From Charlottesville to New Orleans--60 volunteers from our area are packing up and heading down to the Big Easy, spending the week of Thanksgiving giving back. In conjunction with Habitat for Humanity, they'll build homes in one of the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina.

NBC29's Dana Hackett and photojournalist Zac Gooch are traveling with the group to New Orleans. Here's the first in a series of stories you can catch all week.

A 17-year-old high school student and banjo player, his father, a handy man and construction worker, a former volunteer firefighter and rescue squad worker and one woman who's bringing them all together.

They're the faces of help, the hands of hope bringing new life and new homes to the Musicians Village in New Orleans more than a year after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.

"I think the people need help and I can give a little of my time. I don't have money but I have hands. I guess that's what inspired me," said 17-year-old Seth Swingle, who volunteered for the trip. 

The idea started with Marcia Joseph. She wanted to find a way to give back to those hit hardest by Katrina and she thought what better way to give than during Thanksgiving. "I thought, 'well, if I get 3 more people to go with me I can rent a van.' But it's really expanded. We've got 60 people going with us now," shared Joseph, volunteer coordinator. 

The volunteers boarded the bus early Sunday morning. Hours and many miles later, they'll arrive in New Orleans. But not everyone will be on the bus.

Scott Aley is packing up his tool belt, sealing up his tool box and driving his own truck to Louisiana. "I've been a carpenter for 35 years. I like my own tools. And I can bring some extra ones for other people," explained Aley. 

Aley is no stranger to helping others or to Habitat for Humanity. "I worked the blitz this summer where we built six houses in six days and you could feel the energy of all the volunteers. It was very exciting," Aley shared. 

Others like Craig Swingle and his son Seth have never volunteered with Habitat. But the day Hurricane Katrina hit, they felt an urge to give back. And for Seth, his love for music serves as a special inspiration. "Musicians particularly, they were a pretty hard hit community. The New Orleans music scene is great. So yeah, my music inspired me to go down and help people," said Seth. 

"Certainly the musicians were hard hit--both through their houses as well as their livelihood has been impacted because there's no tourists," added Craig Swingle. 

So now these volunteers will get a chance to make an impact. For some, it will be about taking the gift of music to New Orleans.

Seth, who's always wanted to go to New Orleans, said, "I'm sure there'll be time to go out and listen to music and maybe hunt up some other musicians. We'll see how the music intermesh. I don't know how many banjo players there are down there."

For others, it's about taking matters into their own hands. "I don't feel like our government has done enough for the people of New Orleans," stated Craig. 

And in the end, for all it's about making a difference. "I know what kind of feeling I get from helping other people out. There's just nothing like it," said Aley.

Dana Hackett will be in New Orleans the entire week, documenting the work of these dedicated volunteers. She'll report from the ground on the NBC29 News at Five and Six.