As New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region struggle to recover from last year’s hurricanes, help continues to arrive, and LSU AgCenter faculty members continue to assist in coordinating those efforts. Among the latest to help was a group of students from Penn State University, who gave up their spring break last week (March 4-10) to visit the New Orleans area and help to get the city back up and running.

The images of children sitting idle moved Tennessee high school student Emily Hollingsworth to take action, and Hollingsworth inspired a whole community.

The impact of Katrina and Rita on the Gulf Coast created a greater need for the service learning initiative developed by the Louisiana 4-H Youth Development program. Trained youth and adult teams participated in immediate response and long-term recovery efforts. This video, produced by Vernon Parish 4-H members and adult volunteers, is prime example of this work. Created to provide awareness of Rita’s impact, the video shows scenes of costal Cameron Parish before and after the storm.

"I’ve never won anything in my life," cried Tasha Miller. But her day had come. Miller, a 4-H volunteer from New Orleans who lost her home in Hurricane Katrina, was one of 10 who won a 2006 Toyota Prius hybrid from NBA star Amare Stoudemire.

Eager to get a feel for recovery work, nine students from McDaniel College in Maryland are spending two weeks with LSU AgCenter agents lending a hand in the cleanup following Hurricane Katrina.

Nearly four months after Hurricane Katrina, the flowers are beginning to bloom again in New Orleans City Park, thanks to some LSU AgCenter Master Gardeners. As soon as the ground became dry enough, LSU AgCenter horticulture agent Karen Blackburn of Orleans Parish started rounding up the troops – specially training LSU AgCenter volunteers – to see what could be done to bring the botanical garden back to life.

As the cleanup from this summer’s hurricanes continues, LSU AgCenter agents are helping coordinate the work of people who are coming to the rescue. Among those were 30 students from The Ohio State University who arrived in Louisiana earlier this week (Dec. 11-17) ready to roll up their sleeves and pitch in to clean up parts of hurricane-ravaged South Louisiana.

Don’t give up was the message from one state’s 4-H’er to those in Louisiana who were affected by the recent hurricanes. To stress that message, 4-H’ers from across North Carolina collected school supplies, toiletries and stuffed animals for victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The items were packed into "Boxes of Hope" that arrived in Louisiana Monday (Oct. 17).

When disasters happen, dedicated volunteers and professionals swing into action to help those affected by the tragedy. But who takes care of the "helpers"?

Louisiana 4-H’ers are doing their part to help victims of Hurricane Katrina find at least some bits of relief and sparks of hope.