Lead Message
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VCU campus ministry spends Spring Break in Mississippi
By Richard Gavilan
Special to The Catholic Virginian
Waking up by 7 a.m. to clear debris, tear down moldy walls or put up drywall were just some of the tasks many campus ministry students from Virginia Commonwealth University achieved when they chose to go to the Gulf Coast during their recent spring break.
More than six months after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region, college students continue to volunteer, meet and assist victims. I had an opportunity to go to Long Beach, Mississippi with VCU’s Catholic Campus Ministry and members from nearby St. Bridget’s parish from March 12–17.
 The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart is the home to VCU’s Catholic Campus Ministry. The Cathedral formed a twin parish relationship with St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Long Beach, MS, soon after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region. Our particular trip marked the first spring break trip CCM made to Mississippi.
On our first day we headed to St. Thomas Church, which was heavily damaged, for Mass. The temporary church is in a former skating rink which also serves as the parish school which was crushed by the effects of the storm. The people at Mass were so welcoming and curious to learn about us. We soon found out our job of the day was to assist an elderly woman named Annie who had lost her restaurant and home. On the drive down to the church, I saw storm damage that compared to that of storm damage of Hurricane Isabel or Tropical Storm Gaston in Virginia. The drive to Annie’s however, was one of shocking and unforgettable scenes. Everything was completely devastated. Houses crumbled, trees squashed and stores crippled left an impression of little hope for revival. As we entered Annie’s town of Pass Christian, we had to be cleared at a police checkpoint. We were informed the town still implemented curfews.
We arrived at Annie’s to find a front entrance wall and a spiral staircase as the only pieces standing after the storm. Our task was to clear debris off her restaurant and in her yard. It was difficult to watch Annie decide which items were worth saving. She felt so confident that some of her antiques and partially-damaged items were salvageable. Many of us felt these items needed to placed in the trash, but we were not fully cognizant of the emotional value and attachments these pieces had for Annie. Reflecting on our work at Annie’s, much of our group shared feelings of frustration. We were happy to help Annie, but she was so behind in the process of rebuilding, it seemed hopeless to rebuild.
These “long Mississippi days,” as our friend Jaime would say, began to upset our sense of time. Our task on the second day was to clear debris off someone’s lot. The group was perhaps five or six blocks from the beach. Before Katrina you really wouldn’t have been able to see the Gulf from our location of work. Now with all the houses and commercial properties demolished, these houses were the closest things to an ocean front property view. We did get a chance to meet the neighbor of our project. Andy had the only wooden house in the area whose frame survived the storm. He credited the brick houses surrounding his house as the reason his house still stood after the storm.
Andy was a friendly person who talked with every one of us, and showed us photo albums on the progress of his house done by volunteers from across the country. He left us briefly and came back an hour later with milk and cookies to help us “maintain the energy” throughout the day. He would continue buying us snacks for the rest of the week. He would serve as our inspiration to work until the sun began to set.
Prayer and reflection with our group was an essential part of the trip. We were working hard, meeting and visiting with so many people who had so many stories to share. The prayer and spiritual reflection services helped put our lives into perspective and served as a great tool to channel all the emotions we were going through.
On our last day in Mississippi we joined an Iowa University group at St. Thomas for a service. We arrived to see the church filled with school kids from St. Thomas and St. Paul’s school. It got a bit emotional when Father Louis invited VCU and Iowa students to come up to the front altar to view the kids. Father Louis began to tear up in gratitude. It was difficult to view so many of these kids crying after seeing Father Louis cry. Tears were rolling off most of the teachers when one teacher was trying to say how thankful she was for us to come down here for Spring Break instead of going to Mexico or Florida. Looking into all the crying eyes of the boys and girls, it was not hard for someone like me to choke up. When we took a break for recess, I would hear even more candid and haunting stories of surviving the storm from the kids. I still feel so much more needs to be done before the Gulf Coast ever reaches normalcy. But after meeting so many inspirational people, and with my faith renewed, I feel confident better times are ahead for our friends in Mississippi. 
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