Feb. 19, 2010

Morningside students prepare to leave on Feb. 26 for their spring break mission trip to New Orleans

Morningside College students volunteer for New Orleans recovery project

Approximately 20 Morningside College students are forgoing traditional spring break activities in order to travel to New Orleans, La., to help with that city’s ongoing reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of 2005’s Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Led by the Rev. Kathy Martin, Morningside chaplain and director of church relations, the student group will leave the college campus after classes on Friday, Feb. 26, and drive to New Orleans. The students will work for five days on restoration projects in New Orleans. The Morningside group plans to be back in Sioux City on Sunday, March 7.

“I think it’s to their credit that our students take time from their spring break – when they could be spending time with family and friends – to help with the continuing recovery and restoration efforts in New Orleans.” Martin said.

This is the sixth relief trip that Morningside students have made to hurricane-damaged areas along the Gulf Coast. In the spring of 2006, a Morningside group helped with cleanup and reconstruction efforts in Picayune, Miss., which was devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That trip was followed by other mission efforts in Lake Charles, La., in 2007 and 2009; Beaumont, Texas, during Christmas of 2007; and Metairie, La., during the spring of 2008. Morningside students also traveled to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the summer and fall of 2008 to help with flood recovery efforts.