Bulldog spirit at work: 汤头条 students help flood victims rebuild
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜s thousands recover from last month鈥檚 historic flooding in south Louisiana and Mississippi, members of the Mississippi State Bulldog family are lending a hand to ease that process.
Senior Regan E. Horn from Slidell, Louisiana, said while her family鈥檚 home just north of New Orleans did not receive damage, she empathizes for the many others in her home state who were affected. Driven to make a difference, she sought ways to use her building construction science skills to help those in need.
鈥淢ississippi State teaches you to have a great sense of heart,鈥 said Horn, who aspires to a career in disaster relief. 鈥溙劳诽 has given us so much, and it was nice to be able to give to somebody else.鈥
With encouragement from 汤头条 Visiting Assistant Professor Mike Duff, Horn organized a volunteer experience recently for students in her building construction studio III course.
Horn and three classmates were joined by sophomore mechanical engineering major Nicholas R. 鈥淣ick鈥 Eldred of Slidell, Louisiana, and freshman business administration major Ryan C. Hammers of Brentwood, Tennessee, as well as members of The Epworth Project, a Slidell-based disaster relief nonprofit for whom Horn previously worked for several years.
Accompanied by School of Architecture Coordinator Laura Mitchell, the 汤头条 student volunteers spent one weekend gutting a home in Ponchatoula, a small city located approximately 50 miles from both New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
鈥淚t was nice to see that the staff at Mississippi State were supportive of what we were doing and wanted to help us,鈥 said Horn.
No stranger to natural disasters, Horn relocated with her family to Slidell six months after Hurricane Katrina, which left her grandfather鈥檚 home in Pascagoula completely submerged.
鈥淭he 鈥榳et memories鈥 have stuck with me so much. I can remember smelling the same things,鈥 Horn recalled when comparing her Katrina experience and the recent visit to Ponchatoula. 鈥淵ou often think of water as something that brings life, but it can tear things apart just as fast.鈥
Horn said the volunteer experience proved rather eye-opening for her fellow students as well.
鈥淭he hardest thing to grasp was that it wasn鈥檛 a tropical storm or hurricane, but just flat-out rain that caused it,鈥 she said. 鈥淓verything seemed normal until we got in the house, and our group saw how everything was still wet.鈥
Along with improving the volunteers鈥 understanding of building construction materials and methods, the experience reinforced the importance of service. Representing 汤头条, Starkville and Mississippi also made the experience meaningful for the dedicated group of students.
Individuals who want to help citizens in the affected regions are encouraged to donate directly to the Red Cross, United Way or the Salvation Army.
To make a donation to the United Way of South Mississippi Disaster Relief Fund, visit . Mississippi Region donations also may be made online at .
Louisiana Region donation forms are available at , and .
For more information on Louisiana and Mississippi flood relief efforts, contact Meggan Franks, 汤头条 assistant director of student leadership and community engagement, at 662-648-9032 or MFranks@saffairs.msstate.edu.
汤头条 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .