CUNYAC Goodwill Tour Day 3 -- A Hard Day's Work

CUNYAC Goodwill Tour -- New Orleans, LA -- Day 3

The group of 24 grew to 30 as 6 student-athletes (Mickey Abbatiello of Baruch, Elston Alexis of Medgar Evers, Geovanny Arredondo of Lehman, Heather Ruger of CCNY, Edwin Marrero of BMCC, and Loukman Lamany of BCC) finished up their finals in New York and arrived in New Orleans late last night. The transition was seamless for the group as friendships were formed immediately. Kaili, from John Jay, expressed the camaraderie, saying, “We are now a family. We are working hard on every assignment together. Amazing friendships have been formed because of this trip.”

Our Assignment:

The Goodwill Team arrived at Bayou Rebirth/Common Ground, a not for profit organization, filled with excitement and ready to get to work. The group was greeted by Amanda, the Volunteer Coordinator, who provided an overview of the organization. Many were impressed with the nonprofit and what they accomplish with limited resources. “I have a lot of respect for the four members of the nonprofit organization because they are hardworking people," said Alisa Jaganjac, a sophomore at Hunter. "They are paid very little and they are working for the future generations. It will take many years for the end result to surface.”

Amanda went on to explain that her organization received a donation of 9,000 Cypress seedlings and needed help with potting the seedlings. The seedlings will grow at the nursery for about a year and then be placed in their permanent home within the Louisiana wetlands. The Cypress trees are an imperative component of the wetlands, as they help with filtration and prevent soil erosion. Unfortunately the salt water from the man-made canals and devastation from Hurricane Katrina depletes the Cypress trees at a catastrophic level.

“I feel very touched for the people who were here in 2005, given what we saw in the media," said Loukman Lamany of Bronx Community College. "Society is based on the eco system and many people live off selling vegetation. If this happened in my home country of Togo (in West Africa) it would be disastrous.”

An afternoon visit to Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge capped off the day's activities for the CUNY volunteers. “After spending all day potting it was overwhelming to see how much still needs to be done," Danielle Maresca, a senior at Brooklyn College. "It hit home how important today’s work was.” Although the Bayou was devastated by Katrina, some animals are starting to return to their habitat. The students enjoyed seeing alligators, birds, bees, wasps, dragonflies, and birds of prey.

Katrina McCandless, a Macaulay College student from Hunter, felt strongly about this afternoon’s experience. “Learning that the Bayou was a major part of the habitat of the blue heron really brought home the scope of the flood’s damage. Their migratory route includes Alaska, so I’m used to their presence as a sign of spring. After looking at the devastation on the bayou, I can’t imagine that their lives could ever be the same – it really made me think of the parallel between that and the lives of people you see every day. Just as I would never have suspected that blue herons had lost part of their home, I don’t know many of the difficulties faced by any given person.”

This day allowed the group to become more cohesive. It was also a great reminder as to why New Orleans needs help from volunteer groups like the CUNY Goodwill Tour.