AT
Anna Topping
  • English - Communication & Media Studies
  • Class of 2017
  • Peterborough, NH

Anna Topping Participates in Emmanuel's Annual Alternative Spring Break Trip to New Orleans

2016 Mar 18

During the week of March 7th, Anna Topping and 17 other Emmanuel students participated in the College's annual Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trip to New Orleans, Louisiana. ASB is a week-long, faith-based service trip held during the College's traditional spring break that bridges volunteer work with education and reflection on larger social issues.

The New Orleans group continues to focus on rebuilding a city still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. ASB volunteers worked on destroyed homes with the St. Bernard Project (SBP), a national long-term disaster recovery organization whose mission is to ensure that communities at risk of or impacted by disasters have the resources to prepare and recover in the most prompt and efficient way possible. The group also worked in the school garden of the Langston Hughes Academy, completed various projects with the Sisters of the Holy Family at St. Mary's Academy and volunteered at Villalobos Rescue Center, the dog shelter featured on Animal Planet's "Pit Bulls and Parolees."

In addition to their days of service, the group also had the opportunity to learn more about New Orleans history and culture, including a visit to The Presbytere (Louisiana's state museum), the National WWII Museum and the New Orleans Hurricane Katrina Memorial at Charity Hospital Cemetery, as well as tours of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation's New Canal Lighthouse Museum and Education Center and of the Lower Ninth Ward.