First United Methodist 2014

 This wonderful group of people from Manhattan, KS trekked to New Orleans in March to lend a helping hand to their far off neighbors.  First UMC is the name and painting was their game.  They scraped and painted a house out in New Orleans East… and even acquired a few sunburns in the beautiful warm weather that FINALLY reached the south!

Catholic Campus Ministries @ Wooster College 2014

Wooster! Wooster! Wooster!  The name just warrants a chant. The Catholic Campus Ministries at Wooster College in OH, headed by Nate Addington, served in New Orleans Spring of 2014, soaking walls with paint and soaking themselves in the beautiful New Orleanian culture and cuisine. They spent the week working for Angel & Nelson, painting the exterior of their large home. They put their hard work into that house, and reaped the benefits of love and laughter from the family, a wonderful tour guide on their day off, and even a shave and a haircut on the front porch- New Orleans style.

First Baptist Woodway 2014

What can we say about this group… several things actually- to name a few: faithful, generous, hilarious, very hard workers, and healthy eaters! Bob Johns has been bringing teens from First Baptist Woodway Church in Waco, TX for…well it seems forever.  But really this is their 6th trip with HisHands2Go!  Each year Bob brings a great mixture of returnees and a slew of new people to join in the experience of volunteering in New Orleans. This year the team worked on a home on Jasmine Street, doing some demo (which they have become experts at), and painting the exterior of the house.  When you have a good size group of people eager to work, there is much that can be done in as little as 3 days!  These guys did an impressive amount of work, and did it with excellence.

 And even enjoyed a little sweet treat :)

St. Joseph Catholic School (March 2014)

Such a dynamic group of volunteers! St. Joseph Catholic School way up in South Carolina sent a group of young folks to volunteer for a week in March.  They worked alongside the team from Catholic Missions Trips on Angel and Nelson’s house, painting the exterior of the large house.  In addition, they pitched in on hanging siding with Pastor Juan at Philippi Evangelical COGIC down in the 9th Ward of New Orleans. We’ve been sending volunteers to assist in the rebuilding of the church’s children’s building, and this crew did quite of bit of work to move that along.

In addition to the work they accomplished during the week, these students and their two wonderful chaperones were able to experience several lent services in New Orleans. New Orleans is a fascinating city where lent is practiced by most, even if they have no religious affiliation, thus offering a variety of experiences to those who wish to attend daily services.

Catholic Missions Trips: March 2014

Catholic Missions Trips is a mediator organization, connecting volunteer groups with organizations at their destination. HisHands2Go just so happened to be the organization chosen to host the group from All Saints Catholic Church in Dallas, TX. These folks, alongside St. Joseph Catholic School, worked on Angel and Nelson’s home as well, painting the exterior of the house.
A special thanks to Maria Nix, their fearless coordinator! She did a wonderful job keeping everything in order.

University of Central FL: March 2014

University of Central FL…a school that has been sending teams for three years now, each group just as wonderful as the last. This group had a special flare to them though. Their trip coincided with Mardi Gras and all the huzzah that comes with it.  What sets them apart, however, is that they acquired the largest pile of Mardi Gras parade prizes that we have ever seen in one place! They couldn’t fit all of it in the car to take home and were forced to forfeit some of their prizes… most of the leftovers went on to be recycled or entertain young children
In addition to their exciting week of parading, this group braved the cold and wet weather to scrape and paint a home and the iron fence surrounding it… no small job, especially in nasty weather. All in all we’d say they had a unique, well-rounded experience during their stay with HisHands2Go!

St. Vivian Church: March 2014

Ok…we at HisHands2Go have yet to see a group of people as tough as these folks from St. Vivian Church in Cincinnati, OH.  They scrape and paint, they clean out super dirty boiler rooms, and they have left a legacy of fending off thieves and robbers! This year they mainly painted though. The crew began the week at Ms. Polk’s house out in New Orleans East, scraping and painting the trip on the house and the iron window covers. Then they moved on to Mr. Earl Milaud’s house, enjoying the painting as well as the stories of his life experiences during Hurricane Katrina. The third project they worked on was painting and cleaning at St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church, nurturing a friendship that has lasted several years between the two churches- just one of the many wonderful fruits of volunteer labor and love.