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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 5, 2007 |
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT
Elizabeth Pittman 404.364.8868
epittman@oglethorpe.edu |
Oglethorpe's Center for Civic Engagement Continues Aid
to New Orleans During Winter Break
WHO: Over 40 college students from Oglethorpe University are taking their last week of winter break to provide support to the Gulf Coast region devastated by Hurricane Katrina, led by the university president Lawrence M. Schall and the brand new Oglethorpe Center for Civic Engagement.
WHAT: Oglethorpe volunteers, working with Hands On New Orleans, gutting damaged homes, removing mold and cleaning up New Orleans-area schools, animal shelters, city parks, volunteer shelters and non-profit organizations.
WHEN: Sunday, January 7 at 11:00 a.m., Oglethorpe students, faculty and staff leave Atlanta, returning Saturday, January 13.
WHERE: The group will leave in vans from Emerson Student Center, Oglethorpe University (4484 Peachtree Rd NE). The volunteers will stay at First Street United Methodist Church (2309 Dryades St. New Orleans, LA).
PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES:
- Volunteers packing vans and leaving from Atlanta. (January 7 at 11:00 a.m.) Driven and accompanied by President Schall until Wednesday and accompanied by the Center for Civic Engagement’s director Tamara Nash.
- Scenes from New Orleans, the clean-up efforts and expert speakers (January 8-12)
- Oglethorpe University volunteers returning to Atlanta (January 13 TBD)
- Presentation by the student volunteers on their New Orleans experience in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (January 18).
BACKGROUND: In October, Oglethorpe was named to the U.S. President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for distinguished community service and for the extraordinary volunteer efforts by the school and its students to serve Gulf Coast communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit, various Oglethorpe students, President Schall and his wife flew with Angel Flight of Georgia pilots to Louisiana and Alabama to unload and distribute supplies to those in need. Oglethorpe University then assisted hurricane survivors from its campus by becoming a donation site for the neighboring community, and over 100 student volunteers continued to deliver goods to Angel Flight on a daily basis. In March, 30 members of the Oglethorpe community spent their spring break gutting damaged homes in New Orleans. In November 2007, Oglethorpe opened its Center for Civic Engagement. |
