By AUBRIE GEORGE | The Moorestown Sun
Brendan Kennedy and Brendan McIlhenny could have spent their Christmas vacation hanging out with friends or just enjoying a week of no homework or tests, but they didn’t.
Instead, the two Saint Joe’s Prep juniors headed to New Orleans with a few classmates and parents to rebuild homes for those still feeling the devastation and loss caused by Hurricane Katrina.
McIlhenny first went down to New Orleans two years ago to participate in the Saint Bernard Parish Project, which rebuilds homes for families St. Bernard Parish, a community adjacent to New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward where more than 27,000 homes were rendered uninhabitable and more than 200 residents were killed because of the hurricane.
“The city of New Orleans is fine. It was rebuilt from the storm and everything looked great,” McIlhenny said. “Reality hit you, though, when you crossed the bridge over into the ninth ward and houses were still laying on their sides, cars were tangled in weeds all over the place and flipped upside down, vacant lots where houses used to stand. It was really bad.”
In the ninth ward, McIlhenny and his classmates worked on laying floors in a home that was being rebuilt for a family of the parish.
McIlhenny decided to return to New Orleans again this past year, he said, but this time he had a different perspective.
“The first year I was kind of forced to go, I didn’t really know what I was getting into,” McIlhenny said. “But this year I really felt that it was my responsibility to tell other people about this and really help these people out because they’re really in need.”
Back at home, he said, he and his classmates started a fund raiser, which raised $3,500 in a half an hour by selling dress down days to Saint Joe’s Prep students.
After hearing about his classmate’s experience in Louisiana, Kennedy decided to join him this past year as well and went down this Christmas break to rebuild another home in Saint Bernard Parish.
“It wasn’t just New Orleans and the surrounding area that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, it was kind of like a global experience,” Kennedy said. “When we got down there we helped not only rebuild their homes, but rebuild their lives as well.”
Their trip allowed them to see just how devastated parts of the Gulf Coast still are, so many years after Hurricane Katrina hit. Some, McIlhenny said, became so frustrated with the U.S.’s failure to respond to the emergency, that they left New Orleans for good.
He recalls a story a man from the parish told him about waiting for government assistance.
“Someone asked, ‘how long did he have to wait until he was picked up. He said. ‘How long does it take to get from America to America?’ I’ll always remember that,” McIlhenny said. “The people of New Orleans are really frustrated and sad and most of them just gave up and just left everything they had down there.”
But, they said, they also saw firsthand how the people of New Orleans that are still there have not been completely beaten down.
“We saw how it affected the community,” Kennedy said. “Buildings and everything may have been destroyed but the people there didn’t completely get down because of it. They looked at it as, ‘well, this happened, and it’s a thing of the past and now we’re starting he process of rebuilding and starting to get back to how our lives were just like they were before this happened.”
Both boys said the experience was enlightening, especially after meeting people from the city, who, they said, were more than thankful for their help.
“I was kind of overjoyed because I didn’t know what to expect,” Kennedy said. “I didn’t know how it would go or how they would treat us. Maybe there would be people who would say ‘well, we kind of want to do this on our own.’ but they were very gracious and they embraced and welcomed us. It was tremendous how they were all working together with us.”
While most of their time was spent working, the boys did have a little time to enjoy the city of New Orleans, where, they said, they experienced even more gratitude.
“Everybody that you see, when they see you helping out on the streets, they’ll drive by and say ‘I speak for New Orleans when I say thank you,’ it’s a really good feeling,” McIlhenny said.
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Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 11:42 am
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