THIS IS THE 'END OF THE STORY' - Mission trip to St. Gabriel - February 2007
Sorry that we didn't get to complete our blog while we were at St. Gabriel's - it seems that we had some sympathy with those who were without electricity here in Cincinnati as our electricity went out as well on Thursday evening and then on Friday morning. We tried to get back on line on Friday but it just wasn't going to cooperate. So for those who wish to know the end of the story of our mission trip - here it is.
Thursday: This is our last day - it's been a busy week@ I'm so proud of our work crews. One of the things we were asked to do at our orientation on Sunday after Mass by our project manager Matt Russo was that the people of New Orleans have been ripped off by so called contractors, work that been done had been done poorly and that the homeowners were weary of anyone coming in. Therefore we were asked to give them the best work possible. Some crews reported that when they first arrived at the homeowners site, they were greeted with some reserve, but by the time they completed the first days work, there were lots of smiles and thanks. It only took a few hours before the homeowners realized that they had a crew that not only knew what they were doing but they had people that cared about the quality of their work and about them! In the end, our crew has completed the the projects given in record time - Sr. Kathleen kept saying "you work too hard" and too fast (but good). We had time left so a crew of men were able to finish 'mudding' the church bathroom so it can be painted, and put up insulation and drywall in the various new spaces behind the altar including the sacristy, 2 bathrooms, closet and storage space, etc. Tony, St. Gabriel's Maintenance supervisor, was leery about volunteers working on the church (he's very particular!) but after his first inspection he was thrilled with the quality of work and left them with a list of things to do. Another group started cleaning the parish hall (aka our shower room) and the lower floors of the parish offices (below our dorms). We were able to do all this because we completed our work list at the parishioners homes.
Several of our groups ended up with nick names - ask Barb Kroell - she's the leader of the painted ladies, Mike Gable and Ed Jansing & Kathy Szczur were know as the "popcorn" men and woman - they had to learn how to use the popcorn machine to texture the ceilings!
We also need to acknowledge Jack Hall who took over as project manager as Matt Russo had to go out of the country for a close friends funeral. Thank you Jack for doing such a superb job. And thanks to the group leaders for listening!
Although there are still so many empty homes in the area, there are a lot more who have started the rebuilding process to the point where they need more skilled laborers. We were so blessed to have a crew who knew how to tile, carpentry skills, skills to complete the drywall process and painting. The ladies who painted one house had to paint 18-20 ceilings. Kudos's to them - especially since they had to put on three coats in some rooms (they wanted it to be perfect). St. Michael can be proud of our 43 participants. They went above and beyond what they were asked to do. We actually had a dozen or so very restless people on Thursday because they had to wait for a job.
FRIDAY
All in all its been a tremendous week - even with the tornado (Lori Anne will be happy to know that her pop-up (or fold/down) can survive tornado winds!), high winds, power outages, and cold weather for New Orleans - most evenings we had temps in the 30's. On Thursday evening we got to 'break bread' together with a candlelight dinner since we had no power - fortunately dinner had finished cooking by then! Fortunately most had had their breakfast and coffee before the power went out again on Friday morning.
Since this will be the last entry in the blog, you'll have to ask the participants about their experiences when you see them. We'll post pictures as soon as possible in the gathering space. In the meantime - here are a few more entries from participants to share with you...
"Our Valentine's Day was made special by our wonder kitchen crew who composed a dinner of roast port, roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans! Carol Walker made beautiful heart shaped and hand-decorated cookies and her mother donated Esther Prices chocolates. We had personalized Valentines that our 18 year old, Michelle & Kelsey, made which were really cute. With background music, candles and red tablecloths, what else did we need? Thanks to everyone who made it so special! Sally H.
"We have finished our painting at Miss Mary's house and was also able to clean up her back yard. She was so grateful and just a wonderful lady to help. She is 80 years old (looks fifty!) has taught school for 43 years and is also a seamstress. My crew (the painted ladies & Phil) have been a blessing to work with - Sally, Carolyn, Susan, Julia, Rhonda and myself - Phil & Barb Schmidt are also part of our team. I can't believe its almost time to go home.
After the tornado we all prayed for the people and also for Fr. Doug and Sr. Kathleen. Father seemed to be depressed an my heart went out to him. He was so concerned for his people and all the people of this area. Fr. and Sr. are truly disciples of Christ and I only hope I can learn from them.
Our kitchen crew has been fabulous. They made Valentines Day so special. I could go on and on about all of these people that are here to help and those we are helping. We are truly with God's special people. Peace to all back home, Barb K.
ADDED NOTE ABOUT THE TORNADO THAT HIT WHILE WE WERE THERE:
From Sr. Kathleen: "We were all stunned and saddened by the devastation caused by the tornado that hit Ponchartrain Park. How unbelievable it all was and is! (tornado's are very unusual for New Orleans) It is an amazing blessing that more people were not killed or badly wounded. The one elderly woman who was killed was a resident of Ponchartrain Park, Stella Chambers, was living in Her FEMA trailer in front of her house (these trailers were not made to withstand any kind of major storms). As of this writing we know of only 2 parishioners who suffered damage from the tornado. One was 83 years old Mrs. Eutiquia "Rosie" Pollard who was living on Ondin Street in her FEMA trailer along side of her house. The house was blown to smithereens but the trailer remained standing! A piece of siding from the house blew through the side wall in the trailer where Mrs. Pollard was sleeping. She was not injured! Mrs. Pollard and her children are giving thanks to God and the Blessed Mother for protecting her. The statue of Mary was standing serene in front of the trailer@ She already has a new trailer. Another parishioner who suffered damages to her trailer was Mrs. Gwen Armstrong, she also lived on Odin Street. She and family members who were with her were not injured. That God that most of the homes that were devastated were not as yet occupied even though it was evident that some of them were in process of being restored. Some homes of parishioners that were already being lived in missed being hit by a few feet! Another miracle! "
Catholic Charities set up a satellite site on St. Gabriel grounds. All week we witnessed a procession of people from the area going to get help including food. All food not used by our St. Michael mission group was taken up to them to help in some little way. Nothing was wasted!
That pretty much takes care of our mission trip. I can't say enough about the wonderful people who worked so hard to try to make life a little easier for St. Gabriel parishioners. They are the hero's who help make this world a little better for others. I know that God has special blessings in store for them.
Peace to all, Anna
Sorry that we didn't get to complete our blog while we were at St. Gabriel's - it seems that we had some sympathy with those who were without electricity here in Cincinnati as our electricity went out as well on Thursday evening and then on Friday morning. We tried to get back on line on Friday but it just wasn't going to cooperate. So for those who wish to know the end of the story of our mission trip - here it is.
Thursday: This is our last day - it's been a busy week@ I'm so proud of our work crews. One of the things we were asked to do at our orientation on Sunday after Mass by our project manager Matt Russo was that the people of New Orleans have been ripped off by so called contractors, work that been done had been done poorly and that the homeowners were weary of anyone coming in. Therefore we were asked to give them the best work possible. Some crews reported that when they first arrived at the homeowners site, they were greeted with some reserve, but by the time they completed the first days work, there were lots of smiles and thanks. It only took a few hours before the homeowners realized that they had a crew that not only knew what they were doing but they had people that cared about the quality of their work and about them! In the end, our crew has completed the the projects given in record time - Sr. Kathleen kept saying "you work too hard" and too fast (but good). We had time left so a crew of men were able to finish 'mudding' the church bathroom so it can be painted, and put up insulation and drywall in the various new spaces behind the altar including the sacristy, 2 bathrooms, closet and storage space, etc. Tony, St. Gabriel's Maintenance supervisor, was leery about volunteers working on the church (he's very particular!) but after his first inspection he was thrilled with the quality of work and left them with a list of things to do. Another group started cleaning the parish hall (aka our shower room) and the lower floors of the parish offices (below our dorms). We were able to do all this because we completed our work list at the parishioners homes.
Several of our groups ended up with nick names - ask Barb Kroell - she's the leader of the painted ladies, Mike Gable and Ed Jansing & Kathy Szczur were know as the "popcorn" men and woman - they had to learn how to use the popcorn machine to texture the ceilings!
We also need to acknowledge Jack Hall who took over as project manager as Matt Russo had to go out of the country for a close friends funeral. Thank you Jack for doing such a superb job. And thanks to the group leaders for listening!
Although there are still so many empty homes in the area, there are a lot more who have started the rebuilding process to the point where they need more skilled laborers. We were so blessed to have a crew who knew how to tile, carpentry skills, skills to complete the drywall process and painting. The ladies who painted one house had to paint 18-20 ceilings. Kudos's to them - especially since they had to put on three coats in some rooms (they wanted it to be perfect). St. Michael can be proud of our 43 participants. They went above and beyond what they were asked to do. We actually had a dozen or so very restless people on Thursday because they had to wait for a job.
FRIDAY
All in all its been a tremendous week - even with the tornado (Lori Anne will be happy to know that her pop-up (or fold/down) can survive tornado winds!), high winds, power outages, and cold weather for New Orleans - most evenings we had temps in the 30's. On Thursday evening we got to 'break bread' together with a candlelight dinner since we had no power - fortunately dinner had finished cooking by then! Fortunately most had had their breakfast and coffee before the power went out again on Friday morning.
Since this will be the last entry in the blog, you'll have to ask the participants about their experiences when you see them. We'll post pictures as soon as possible in the gathering space. In the meantime - here are a few more entries from participants to share with you...
"Our Valentine's Day was made special by our wonder kitchen crew who composed a dinner of roast port, roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans! Carol Walker made beautiful heart shaped and hand-decorated cookies and her mother donated Esther Prices chocolates. We had personalized Valentines that our 18 year old, Michelle & Kelsey, made which were really cute. With background music, candles and red tablecloths, what else did we need? Thanks to everyone who made it so special! Sally H.
"We have finished our painting at Miss Mary's house and was also able to clean up her back yard. She was so grateful and just a wonderful lady to help. She is 80 years old (looks fifty!) has taught school for 43 years and is also a seamstress. My crew (the painted ladies & Phil) have been a blessing to work with - Sally, Carolyn, Susan, Julia, Rhonda and myself - Phil & Barb Schmidt are also part of our team. I can't believe its almost time to go home.
After the tornado we all prayed for the people and also for Fr. Doug and Sr. Kathleen. Father seemed to be depressed an my heart went out to him. He was so concerned for his people and all the people of this area. Fr. and Sr. are truly disciples of Christ and I only hope I can learn from them.
Our kitchen crew has been fabulous. They made Valentines Day so special. I could go on and on about all of these people that are here to help and those we are helping. We are truly with God's special people. Peace to all back home, Barb K.
ADDED NOTE ABOUT THE TORNADO THAT HIT WHILE WE WERE THERE:
From Sr. Kathleen: "We were all stunned and saddened by the devastation caused by the tornado that hit Ponchartrain Park. How unbelievable it all was and is! (tornado's are very unusual for New Orleans) It is an amazing blessing that more people were not killed or badly wounded. The one elderly woman who was killed was a resident of Ponchartrain Park, Stella Chambers, was living in Her FEMA trailer in front of her house (these trailers were not made to withstand any kind of major storms). As of this writing we know of only 2 parishioners who suffered damage from the tornado. One was 83 years old Mrs. Eutiquia "Rosie" Pollard who was living on Ondin Street in her FEMA trailer along side of her house. The house was blown to smithereens but the trailer remained standing! A piece of siding from the house blew through the side wall in the trailer where Mrs. Pollard was sleeping. She was not injured! Mrs. Pollard and her children are giving thanks to God and the Blessed Mother for protecting her. The statue of Mary was standing serene in front of the trailer@ She already has a new trailer. Another parishioner who suffered damages to her trailer was Mrs. Gwen Armstrong, she also lived on Odin Street. She and family members who were with her were not injured. That God that most of the homes that were devastated were not as yet occupied even though it was evident that some of them were in process of being restored. Some homes of parishioners that were already being lived in missed being hit by a few feet! Another miracle! "
Catholic Charities set up a satellite site on St. Gabriel grounds. All week we witnessed a procession of people from the area going to get help including food. All food not used by our St. Michael mission group was taken up to them to help in some little way. Nothing was wasted!
That pretty much takes care of our mission trip. I can't say enough about the wonderful people who worked so hard to try to make life a little easier for St. Gabriel parishioners. They are the hero's who help make this world a little better for others. I know that God has special blessings in store for them.
Peace to all, Anna
posted by Lori Anne at 12:01 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks to all of you for being so generous with your time and talents. It was nice to see some of you in church this morning back safe and sound. We are sure the good Lord is pleased.
Mary and Bill
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