Pace Students Volunteer in New Orleans
Kneeling Foreground: LaKeisha Paporte, Glenys Fernandez; Standing: Dane DiSimino; Raking: Courtney Shannon; Background: Candace Shanks, Brittney Kugler
Leslie Roberts, Natasha Komninos, Lisa Ko
Leslie Roberts
The Center for Community Outreach at Dyson College, Project Pericles, and Student Affairs co-sponsored an Alternative Spring Break trip for 20 students (10 from the Downtown Campus, 10 from the Pleasantville Campus) to participate in a week’s worth of community service in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. From March 20 to March 25, students worked at UNITY for the Homeless, New Orleans largest homeless organization, which was ironically displaced by hurricane Katrina when their offices were flooded and looted in the aftermath.
Volunteers helped clean up the inside of UNITY’s shelter as well as the building’s facade, repainted and helped prepare a room for a new family that was set to move in to the shelter, cleaned up the garden area, and helped serve lunch to the residents there. Students also toured the 9th Ward District that was completely leveled due to flooding. Five Pace staff members accompanied the students and served as chaperones for the trip. They were Victor Lago and Daniel Botting from the Center for Community Outreach at Dyson College; Kevin Banks, Dean for Students, Pleasantville campus; Jennifer Page, Counselor from the Counseling Center, Pleasantville campus; and Darnita Killian, Vice President of Student Affairs.
