The United Way for Southeastern Michigan blog: Detroit Free Press: Youths come home changed after trip spent aiding others

BY JACK KRESNAK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Many college students can bum money from Mom and Dad and fly off to Mexico or Florida for spring break to party like it's 1999.

But it takes a special college student to pay hundreds of his or her own dollars to fly to the gulf coast to help people still struggling to get their lives in order nearly two years after hurricanes devastated parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Two Michigan students who made the trek last March -- Brian Sawyer, 23, of Royal Oak and Tiffany Beaudry, 19, of Dorr, near Grand Rapids -- are hoping to repeat what they said was a life-changing experience in the United Way's Leaders for Alternative Spring Break project.

United Way organizations across the country lined up about 100 college students to help victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Sawyer and Beaudry, who did not know each other beforehand, signed up without knowing what to expect. They arrived at the Lake Pontchartrain area north of New Orleans the evening of March 11 and were put on a bus with 28 other volunteers, bound for Foley, Miss.

There, they met Mary Williams and her family, who were living in a trailer provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency outside their devastated home, surrounded by damaged structures.

"We get to her house and it's just, like, nothing; just, like, four cement walls," said Beaudry, a sophomore at Grand Valley State University. "And there's, like, mold and smoke residue and -- oh my gosh, she was standing in this house, looking through these big picture windows, and just crying.

"She was saying that we were angels sent from God and stuff. It was, like, so emotional."

The three teams of 10 students stayed at a Christian camp near town, but they spent every day -- virtually sunup to sundown -- working on the Williams' home to make it livable.

"About 50%, we had to gut," Sawyer said. "We had to clean everything. The roof was in shambles, so we had to redo a lot of the braces. We also did all new Sheetrock, painting, windows, plumbing, electrical, you name it."

After returning to the camp each evening for dinner, the students spent hours talking around a fire. Young people who came to Mississippi as strangers left 10 days later as friends.

"There were all these amazing people from around the nation," Beaudry said. "We would stay out and hang out all night long talking. I have no idea how I managed to work so hard. It was so inspiring."

The biggest disappointment was not being able to see the home ready for the Williams family to move back into, both students said. They had nearly completed painting inside before they had to leave. Contractors finished the job, they said.

At a closing ceremony at camp, an emotional Williams thanked all of them for fixing her home, promising to "pay it forward," Beaudry said.

"The experience is unbelievable," Sawyer said. "I came back screaming my story, doing breakfasts with United Way, trying to talk to as much local press as possible, to basically let people know the South is not OK."

Sawyer, a manager at a Target store in Farmington Hills, is a former student at Michigan State University now studying online through the University of Phoenix. He has been a United Way volunteer for the past few years, donating about 40 hours of his time a month.

He said he's been chosen to be a team leader for the trip in March.

Beaudry said she is waiting to hear whether she'll be chosen for this year's trip.

"The whole trip was just fun, so it didn't really seem like work," Beaudry said.

To learn more about Alternative Spring Break and other volunteer efforts, contact the United Way for Southeastern Michigan at either 211 or 800-552-1183. You can also go to www.uwsem.org and click on "Get Involved" to sign up for volunteer opportunities. Contact JACK KRESNAK at 313-223-4544 or jkresnak@freepress.com.

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