Service & Civic Engagement

I decided to take a leave of absence from college during the fall of 2005 in order to find a fulltime internship. On the morning Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast region, August 29, 2005, I was glued to the goring news coverage like most people around the World.

In the subsequent days and weeks, I went onto volunteer at the Washington D.C. National Guard Armory moving and matching boxes of donated clothes in the Armory’s storage building. The donated supplies were for Hurricane Katrina victims residing in the Armory and other local shelters. Most of these people lost all of their belongings. Many people continue to search for family and friends and have not had the chance to gut and clean their mold-infested houses.

A few days immediately after the conclusion of my internship responsibility, I landed at the Louis Armstrong International Airport to serve with the Disaster Relief Unit of the American Red Cross; spending the month of December and the first week of January serving the City of New Orleans was a life changing experience. Also, I think that volunteering at the Washington D.C. National Guard Armory served as the catalyst for my eventual service with the American Red Cross of Southeast Louisiana.

Nevertheless, my assignment was to operate and drive Emergency Response Vehicle #1081 throughout the Upper and Lower 9th Ward and in St. Bernard Parish, a local jurisdiction directly adjacent to the City of New Orleans.

I vividly recall spending the Holiday Season in the City of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. While I was there, a 10 year-old boy named Mikey brought me to tears on the Eve of Christmas. Tears filled my eyes because his facial expressions displayed the torment he and his family confronted as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

On December 24th, I drove Emergency Response Vehicle #1081 and spoke with several familiar faces. We unloaded in the Seabrook neighborhood on the corner of Dowman and Chef Manteur Highway and immediately began providing residents with free hot meals and other household essentials. Mikey came to our window, he and his mother visited us frequently. I immediately recognized the dismay and sadness covering his face. Mikey told me his Christmas wish was to have Santa Clause deliver a FEMA trailer for he and his family. That conversation was not the first time I cried or felt the deep pain of Hurricane Katrina victims.

However, it was the first time that the selflessness and clarity of a child made me break down. The destruction engendered by Hurricane Katrina had stolen Mikey’s childhood. I then began to think about how my childhood had been stolen as well. Therefore, I emphatically identified with Mikey and his situation. For me – in my mind, shuffling in and out of numerous foster care homes felt like the pain Hurricane Katrina victims experienced and sounded like the stories they shared with me.

Blanket New Orleans was founded as the result of one family’s consistent request for blankets. As I reflected on my service with the American Red Cross, a family’s request for blankets is the image that circulates in my mind the most. Their dire request for blankets was hard for me to fathom and comprehend. Emergency Response Vehicle #1081 no longer carried blankets. Our inability to provide Hurricane Katrina victims with blankets was and is unacceptable.

Make a difference: www.BlanketNewOrleans.Org

CLICK HERE to watch a video message about Blanket New Orleans, Inc. from Happy's mentor and role model: Civil Rights Pioneer & United States Congressman, The Honorable John Lewis.