Northwest students give back over spring break
Submitted Photo
Northwest Missouri State University students, from left, Bailey Schomburg, Amanda Trotter, and Hannah Scharpenburg, pose for a photo with two members from All Hands Volunteer, a disaster relief non-profit organization during a spring break service trip in Baton Rogue, Louisiana.
Spring break for some Northwest Missouri State University students meant trips to beaches and resorts in Florida or Texas. Others made the trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to watch the men’s basketball team win the Division II championship.
A group of 28 students chose instead to make a trip to Louisiana as part of Alternative Spring Break through the Northwest Office of Student Involvement and the Office of Service and Engagement to help with relief efforts following a flood last fall in Baton Rogue.
The trip featured three supervisors as well, including Robert Mann, a Service and Engagement graduate assistant, who was taking part in the trip for a second straight year.
“For myself, I had no idea about the disaster in Baton Rogue and area surrounding there,” said the Omaha native. “They are struggling for help down there seven months later.”
The flood was a result of rainfall on Aug. 9 and continued through Aug. 13, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Baton Rogue received 11 inches of rain on Aug. 11, the same day, Livingston had 17 inches of rainfall. The flood was the worst disaster in the state since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and was the worst flood since Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
More than 200,000 people were affected and FEMA spent nearly $200 million in assistance.
Northwest decided in the fall to help with this area and commenced fund-raising efforts to help pay for the trip. Working with Community Collaborations International, the group of Bearcats got to help with a variety of projects during the trip that started on March 19.
Some of the group worked with All Hands, which helped hang drywall and paint houses in impacted areas.
“I learned to drywall and that was my favorite part of the entire trip,” said Kali Fujinami, a sophomore communication major from St. Joseph Central High School.
The students were divided up to different groups to help with as many projects as possible under the supervision of Mann, Alex Taylor and Lauren Shakleford.
Mann, who received his undergraduate in corporate finance from Northwest, recalls meeting the homeowner of the property he worked.
“It was hard to tell what things were what, there were no walls, no furniture, no cabinets,” Mann said. “She was very grateful we were there. Talking to her, she was breaking down and getting emotional and we all broke down and got emotional. It is good to see how we impact other people’s lives because our lives are getting impacted just as much.”
Mann, six students and a worker from All Hands worked on insulating the walls and hanging drywall. The group finished three rooms during the two days working 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Other groups helped paint houses that already had drywall hung.
That was just part of some of the projects the Northwest students did, which started with a 16 hour bus ride.
The group worked 3 ½ days — Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and part of Thursday. On Friday, the volunteers headed back to Maryville.
Throughout the week, some Bearcats worked the Greater Baton Rogue Food Bank, others attended the Boys and Girls Club. Fujinami’s group helped clear a natural trail way on the final day.
“The biggest takeaway is meeting all these people,” she said. “One of our projects was the home repir and I met different people and the guy that was the head of our site was from Kansas City and it was really cool to connect with him. There was a guy from Seattle. It was nice hear different experiences and how people got to the places they are.”
Student Bailey Schmidt earned an internship credit for the trip thanks to her work of promoting the excursion on social media.
In the past five years, Northwest has taken Alternative Spring Break trips to Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Niceville, Florida, and the Dominican Republic.
“It is an opportunity to make an impact in the community,” said Mann, who went to Washington, D.C. last spring break. “This was a great time. You make so many experiences with the people you meet.”