A couple of Saturdays ago, the Cold Spring Farmer’s Market opened for the season. It was a beautiful day and the stalls were filled with customers. As I wandered from stall to stall I bumped into a friend from upstate whom I had not seen since last fall.

“How have you been?” I asked.
“Fine,” he said.
“Been up to anything interesting?”
“Well, in March I went down to New Orleans to help with the reconstruction.”
“How was that?”
“Not so good. The group I went with was not too well organized. We stayed in a fancy hotel and spent most of our time either sightseeing or sitting around waiting for something to do.”
“That sounds disappointing.”
“It was. I understand that some of the churches down there are doing good work. They organize themselves as community centers and host volunteers who come down to work on houses in the neighborhood. The volunteers stay right at the churches themselves. I think next time I’ll try to hook up with a church.”
“Not a bad idea,” I added. 

The St. Philip’s New Orleans Project was started last January. St. Philip’s is partnering with the Broadmoor Civic Association and the Church of the Annunciation to help rebuild the Broadmoor section of the Fourteenth Ward. A group of thirteen volunteers, featuring men, women and youth went to New Orleans and had a fantastic week working hands on with neighborhood residents restoring their homes. There was no ‘sitting around waiting for something to do,’ only hard work, camaraderie and the satisfaction of knowing that the work you are doing is making a real difference in people’s lives.

In the wake of that successful trip, the St. Philip’s New Orleans Project was formalized. Its goal is to send volunteer building trades professionals and helpers from our local area to New Orleans on a regular basis to assist in the Katrina recovery. A return trip was planned for May with possible additional trips set for the late fall and winter.

As the group at St. Philip’s was organizing the second trip last month, they received a call from their partners in New Orleans. Instead of repairing homes, the St Philip’s crew was being asked by the partners to work on the Parish House of the Church of the Annunciation. This is the site where scores of voluntary work crews stay. The Parish House is in the heart of New Orleans and hosts over 3,500 volunteers annually. Because of the crowds, it needed more showers, substantial renovations to the bathrooms and additional meeting space.

“We thought the required renovations would take three to four months, if we were fortunate enough to find a contractor,” said Duane Nettles, Annunciation’s Program Director. “This would mean canceling over one thousand volunteers. We also estimated that the job would cost over $30,000, which we didn’t have.”

The scope of the job required professional management and execution. Fortunately, in our community we have generous and committed construction professionals of the highest quality. The crew was headed by Jim Platz, a construction project manager, who went down to New Orleans in April to draw up plans and order materials. Project coordinator Jim Bopp put together an impressive volunteer crew, including several trades professionals. Pete Downey, a plumber, Ken Buxton, a carpenter and project manager, Gabe Levinson, an architect, and Steve Lindstedt, a painter, were joined by highly skilled multi-taskers: Joe Hayes, Alex Clifton, Tony Marcellin and Ryan Wasielewski and Miranda Wheeler, two students from the Boston area. The group left for New Orleans early in the morning on May 15th. The work was hard but spirits were high and the job, all of it, was completed in six days. “I have never seen a crew, even those with huge financial incentives, work harder or more effectively,” said Jim Platz. Funding for the materials for this project came from St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

“You have ended all our worries,” said an excited Duane Nettles as the St. Philip’s crew headed for the airport. “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We will see you in the fall.” The St. Philip’s crew claimed they could see Duane, towel in hand, rushing to the new showers as they left the property.

For information about the St. Philip’s New Orleans Project, please call Frank Geer at the church office (845 424-3571). Additional trips are currently being planned and a fund raiser for the project, a benefit theater party will be held on Friday, June 27th. Tickets are $75 per person to enjoy a lovely picnic and performance of Twelfth Night by the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival.  St. Philip’s is also looking for a sponsor to help defray the costs of the event so that all the money raised can be used to support the New Orleans Project.        

Frank Geer, Rector, St. Philip's Church