Students volunteer at dome, food bank

By David Brown | Thresher Editorial Staff

Hundreds of Rice students were among the thousands of Houston volunteers who went to Reliant Park, the George R. Brown Convention Center and other service agencies looking to help victims of Hurricane Katrina last weekend.

Community Involvement Center Director Mac Griswold said more than 100 students volunteered for CIC-organized trips to the Houston Food Bank, and others went on their own or in groups to evacuee shelters.

“What I saw in the first 72 hours after the evacuees arrived was just amazing,” Griswold said at a Student Association forum Wednesday. “There has been a flood of phone calls and e-mails from people asking how to help.”

About 30 students attended the forum and discussed last week’s volunteering efforts and ways to continue to help hurricane victims.

Griswold encouraged students to visit the CIC Web site, http://www.rice.edu/service, for information about how to volunteer, donate goods and make monetary contributions for the relief effort. Students should also attend a training session Monday, Griswold said. The training, from 12-1 p.m. in the Grand Hall of the RMC, is being held to prepare students for interacting with evacuees directly, Griswold said.

“Some volunteers may not be ready for what they’re going to see,” Griswold said. “There are a lot of very emotional people [at the shelters].”

But with evacuees arriving by the thousands late last week, many students went straight to Reliant Park Friday when the American Red Cross waived the requirement that volunteers be trained.

Will Rice College senior Lei Liew went with about 30 other students to Reliant Park late Friday night and worked until 8 a.m. Saturday.

“By Friday, they said anyone could come, and we figured the time they needed people most was at night,” Liew said. “We thought college students could do it as well as anyone.”

The group was split between the Reliant Astrodome, Reliant Arena and Reliant Center, where Liew and several other students were sent to sort clothing donations. Liew said the effort was chaotic and disorganized at first, with numerous piles of clothing and nobody in charge but became more organized later.

“We felt useful and got a lot accomplished,” Liew said. “There were bags and bags of donations. By the time we left there were distinguishable piles, so when the [evacuees] woke up and requested clothes, it was easier to give them out.”

But Liew said the number of people they had to serve in the Reliant Center was daunting.

“When it was time for them to get clothes and food, the line was so long,” she said.

Students also volunteered at the convention center downtown once it began housing evacuees. Griswold, President David Leebron, Leebron’s wife Ping Sun and a group of five students went to the convention center Monday.

Brown College junior Kitty Landholt said the group worked directly with evacuees, helping them select donated clothing and talking to them one-on-one.

Landholt said many evacuees needed new underwear, some were frantically searching for lost family members and one woman was four months pregnant and suffering from psychological trauma. Overall, however, Landholt said the evacuees were handling the crisis well.

“They were all very friendly,” Landholt said. “I was surprised because they’ve been through a huge disaster to be in such high spirits and so thankful for our help. One woman told us our kindness and generosity were overwhelming.”

For Liew, meeting the evacuees in the Reliant Center was a sobering experience.

“The whole thing was really sad,” Liew said. “One woman who was asking for socks and shoes said she had been walking in feces and urine for days. She was all shaken up.”

Many students sought to help the evacuees by working at the Houston Food Bank over the holiday weekend. Griswold said more than 100 students volunteered at the food bank.

Hanszen College freshman Claire Krebs drove to the food bank with a group of students because the shuttle CIC arranged to transport students was already full.

Krebs said 100 people were lined up outside to volunteer when their group arrived at 8 a.m. Eventually, the food bank accepted 200 volunteers and turned 50 away.

“As soon as media drops this and it falls off the radar, people will stop going,” Krebs said. “The guy at the Food Bank was really trying to emphasize that this is not a one-week thing or two-week thing — this will be going on for several months.”

Krebs worked on sorting food donations that were being delivered. The volunteers separated the donations into categories and then packaged goods into boxes to be given to families.

The SA forum also addressed the topic of how to keep Rice students involved over the long term. Griswold said job training, English as a second language training and other social service needs will arise. The best way for Rice students to help is to work with existing service organizations, Griswold said.

Griswold said students should focus on helping children who will be adjusting to new schools.

“Rice is an academic institution and should focus on academic issues like tutoring and mentoring,” he said.