Bona's responds to Ike's aftermath
Emilee Lindner
Issue date: 3/13/09 Section: Features
Spring break gives students time to relax, refresh and enjoy themselves. However, 44 members of the St. Bonaventure community spent their break in Galveston, Texas, picking up debris and restoring houses damaged during Hurricane Ike.
The citizens of Galveston were impressed with BonaResponds' work.
"The people we met on the street and in restaurants could not believe that these 50 kids came all the way from St. Bonaventure, N.Y., on their own dime to help out the people in Texas," Bill Hammond, '66, who volunteered with BonaResponds, wrote in an e-mail.
BonaResponds spent Feb. 27 to March 7 cleaning two miles of road, hanging drywall, wrapping and insulating houses, rough wiring (doing preliminary electrical work before electricians come in) and gutting homes, which includes knocking water-damaged walls down in order to put new ones up.
The group flew into Houston, stayed in a Galveston church and slept in sleeping bags or on cots. Members worked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day and received a short lunch break.
"It's tiring," Brittany Feldmeyer, a freshman undecided liberal arts major, said. "But gutting a house is fun because you get to break stuff and knock stuff down."
The volunteers were well received by the locals, said Jim Mahar, leader of BonaResponds and assistant professor of finance.
"We cleaned the sides of the road that were filled with debris. The people who live there are constantly reminded of (Hurricane Ike)," Mahar said. "The fire chief pulled up (and) told us how much they appreciated the work. There were people going by honking."
The trip to Galveston not only helped the locals, but also allowed Bonaventure students to bond with each other.
"Even though Bona's is such a small school and you feel like you know everyone, I met so many people down there and was able to put names with faces," Lauren Pingelski, a freshman management major, wrote in an e-mail. "Some of the jobs were boring or difficult, but they brought us together as a group, and it was a fun experience."
The citizens of Galveston were impressed with BonaResponds' work.
"The people we met on the street and in restaurants could not believe that these 50 kids came all the way from St. Bonaventure, N.Y., on their own dime to help out the people in Texas," Bill Hammond, '66, who volunteered with BonaResponds, wrote in an e-mail.
BonaResponds spent Feb. 27 to March 7 cleaning two miles of road, hanging drywall, wrapping and insulating houses, rough wiring (doing preliminary electrical work before electricians come in) and gutting homes, which includes knocking water-damaged walls down in order to put new ones up.
The group flew into Houston, stayed in a Galveston church and slept in sleeping bags or on cots. Members worked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day and received a short lunch break.
"It's tiring," Brittany Feldmeyer, a freshman undecided liberal arts major, said. "But gutting a house is fun because you get to break stuff and knock stuff down."
The volunteers were well received by the locals, said Jim Mahar, leader of BonaResponds and assistant professor of finance.
"We cleaned the sides of the road that were filled with debris. The people who live there are constantly reminded of (Hurricane Ike)," Mahar said. "The fire chief pulled up (and) told us how much they appreciated the work. There were people going by honking."
The trip to Galveston not only helped the locals, but also allowed Bonaventure students to bond with each other.
"Even though Bona's is such a small school and you feel like you know everyone, I met so many people down there and was able to put names with faces," Lauren Pingelski, a freshman management major, wrote in an e-mail. "Some of the jobs were boring or difficult, but they brought us together as a group, and it was a fun experience."
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