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A cruise ship on Mississippi’s gulf coast had never been part of their plans. Kate Cleary of Maine was looking at law school. Christina Conn from Pennsylvania and Elizabeth Budd of Oregon were contemplating graduate school. All three decided they weren’t ready for more school just yet. And Andrew Cramer? He wanted a gap year – a year off between high school in Washington, D.C. and college. Instead, they decided to give a year of service in the National Civilian Conservation Corps (NCCC) and ended up throwing a holiday party for 500 of the victims of Hurricane Katrina living aboard the cruise ship in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
The NCCC program has been working with the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sending teams of ten to twelve young adults to the Mississippi Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina hit on Aug. 29. This California-based NCCC team arrived three weeks ago, replacing a group from Washington State.
“One team started a teen center aboard ship called ‘Teen Tahiti’ where dances, talent shows and other activities were held,” said Elizabeth. “Some members arranged field trips and arts and crafts classes for the younger children. Others began helping ship’s residents with high school Graduate Equivalency Diploma (GED) test preparation and working with Gulfport area schools to provide homework assignments. There was even a yoga class taught by one of the NCCC members.”
The holiday party, complete with gifts, music and decorations, was completely planned and carried out by the young team. It was not only their biggest challenge, but their most rewarding.
Andrew loved playing Santa Claus and giving the donated gifts to the children. There were lots of warm coats and winter clothing—and plenty of toys, too. “Growing up, I always had presents. I couldn’t imagine the children having this holiday without them. I wanted to make sure they had presents this year,” he said.
The gifts came from all over the United States. One team member’s dad collected new children’s coats from the residents of his apartment building in New York City. “We just got on the phone and started calling,” Christina said. “People all over the country were so generous.”
Once the gifts started arriving, the NCCC members brought them aboard the ship and began sorting them. They set up the party room and decorated, arranged for music, and got the word out about the celebration to the ship’s residents. They also set up a table of letters from people all over the country, mostly school children, who had written to the victims of Katrina.
“Thanks to the hard work of these young adults, hundreds of children are enjoying the holidays,” said Nick Russo, FEMA’s federal coordinating officer in Mississippi. “We appreciate the help this team provided, as well as the outstanding work of all the NCCC teams that have done so much in Mississippi.”
Kate agreed that the holiday party was fantastic. It was the one project this team’s members did completely on their own, and the residents on the ship really responded. Almost half of those staying on the ship—500 people—attended the party. “I know they were grateful. All you had to do was look at the many smiles. You could feel the joy all around,” she said. |
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