University of Central FL - Dec 2015

 Gift giving began early this year when University of Central FL sent an Alternative Break Program crew to New Orleans for a week of working on homes and serving the folks of inner city New Orleans. 21 students wrapped up finals, loaded up their bags and a few vans, and headed west. The gift they brought came in the form of hands that scraped, sanded, primed, and painted the exterior of two homes. The team split into two groups, with one portion continuing the tremendous amount of work that previous HH2G teams have done on the home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph. In addition to painting, a crew pooled together and reconstructed the front garage door.  The second crew spent their time working on the exterior of the Spencer’s home. Check out the pics for updates on both projects!
A big thank you to those UCF students that took their Christmas break time to serve these families in New Orleans. They truly demonstrated what giving is, and made such a difference in the process.

Family Life Assembly of God 2015

2015 not only marks Hurricane Katrina's decade anniversary, but also the 10th volunteer trip of this awesome group of guys from Family Life Assembly of God in Pittsburgh, KS. Within months after the storm in 2005, team leaders Matt, Micky, and Romesh rallied a group of men, packed up the church van, and made the 14 hr trek to New Orleans to assist with the clean-up and rebuilding.

The number of guys on the team has fluctuated over the years, but the love and heart of service of this team has never wavered. The types of jobs they have worked on since 2006 has ranged from mud-outs to the framing, roofing, and finishing touches. They've seen and done it all!

This year the guys worked on 2 job sites, both in the 9th ward of Ne Orleans:

1) Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church:  HH2G has worked with Pastor Jose on many projects over the past 5 years, and we teamed up with him again to work on this church building. The team spent a few days laying ceramic tile in the church entryway, framing window openings, and hanging interior doors. On par with southern hospitality, the ladies of the church amply rewarded the guys with delicious, home-cooked lunches!

2) Garden on Marais:  The mission statement of Garden on Marais states that it's an educational gathering space, and in June 2015 Garden Director Kayla Wilson launched the organization's first 4-H Club for youth in the community. The Club runs in 8-week sessions and proved to be a big success! However, improvements such as restroom facilities were lacking on the garden site. So, this Family Life team designed and built a beautiful outhouse on the property. In addition, the guys built a large chicken coop big enough for a person to live in!

This is the same team that built the hoop house on the garden property. Every time our staff goes to Garden on Marais we are reminded of the hard work and generosity of these men from Kansas. They are not just volunteers, but good friends we have come to deeply love and appreciate. We thank them for their dedication to assisting the folks of New Orleans. That generosity and love will be remembered by us and each life touched during their decade of service here. Until next time!

A note of gratitude...

We'd like to offer a huge THANK YOU to Band Dir. Josh Thompson and his Lake Zurich HS Jazz Band team for the generous donation they gave back in March (2015). This donation enabled us to purchase some much needed new tools over the past few months... they've already seen lots of action!

We understand that not only did the team pool money for the donation, but their family, friends, and band supporters gave towards it as well. We are so thankful. And now, here's HH2G Director Larry Swift and the new tools purchased with the donation!

Good Shepherd Parish - July 2015

Good Shepherd Parish of Tallahassee, FL sent a team to New Orleans this July to work with HisHands2Go. This being their 2nd trip with HH2G, they were familiar with the heat and humidity, and faced it bravely as they served the folks of New Orleans. The team of 15 spent their week assisting Mr. & Mrs. Joseph, and Mr. Desoto Jackson. Each of the homes needed finishing touches on exterior paint jobs, and this crew furthered the work accomplished by the volunteer teams before them. Many of you have worked on these particular homes – just take a look at their photos for updates on the work being done!

New Life Fellowship of Eastern Valley

The first mission trip abroad ever taken by New Life Fellowship was to New Orleans, to work alongside HisHands2Go. We are privileged! Pastor Steve Pylant has visited New Orleans a few times, but never as a volunteer. So he organized a group of fine folks and caravaned down to New Orleans, equipped with skills, enthusiasm, and hands ready to tackle some hard work in service to others. Occasionally HisHands2Go has a few skilled volunteers on a team, but this time we had an entire team of skilled men and women, so we put them to work on some of our tough jobs.
Here is a bit of background info: about 6 weeks ago the front of the St. Luke Assembly of God building was hit by a car. In route to the building, the car hit the church sign and mowed down some plants and bushes before knocking out a bunch of bricks by the front door... thankfully they were not part of the major support areas of the building!  

And now (drum roll) here is a list of their accomplishments:

 
1) The iron church sign was welded back together and repainted (huge thanks to Marty!)

2) A leaky corner of the church was patched

 

3) A drainage system was installed behind the church to prevent flooding inside the building






 4) Back of the Fellowship Hall was power washed, primed, and painted
 

 

5) A fence was installed to fully enclose the back of the building











6) Curtains were sewed and hung in the sanctuary

 7) the outdoor iron staircase was repaired and repainted (again, thanks to Marty!)






8) curtains were sewed, decorated, and hung in the Fellowship Hall to create an area for toddlers
 

 

9) New baptism garments were sewed
 









10) Doors were painted "LaFonda" red

 
11) installed a portion of the front side of the fence at Garden on Marais
 




12) An irrigation system was installed at the Garden on Marais... a much needed system (special thanks to Jacob & Pastor Dave)

 

And they topped off their trip with boiled crawfish! 

 Thanks to you New Life Fellowship, we sincerely enjoyed hosting you and look forward to seeing you again!

University of Central FL - March 2015

The University of Central FL has been faithfully sending volunteers to serve in New Orleans since 2011. A few of their teams have assisted in developing the Garden on Marais, located in the 9th Ward of New Orleans. This trip they worked on the garden beds, preparing them for growing delicious vegetables! In addition, the team spent time reorganizing the inside of the warehouse building at the garden site...and it looks GREAT! Big thanks to this crew for all of their hard work on the garden.

Lake Zurich HS Jazz Band - March 2015

Also hailing from the Chicago area, the Lake Zurich High School Jazz Band came to New Orleans to soak up the rich history of jazz and spend a few days serving the folks of the city. When not performing in the French Quarter or enjoying the sights of the city, these kids and their leaders were painting at 3 jobsites, repairing a small trailer home at a fourth, and working on the neighborhood Garden on Marais. The painting took place at the homes of Ms. Stewerd and Ms. Wilson, and the house for battered women at Philippi Evangelical COGIC. Team leader Josh Thompson took a small crew to repair the interior of a trailer home, and the portion of the team that worked at Garden on Marais assisted with preparing the beds for planting delicious vegetables and beautiful flowers!
One of the unique and special experiences that this team had during their trip was that of playing alongside (and in place of for a bit) our friend Steamboat Willie... a.k.a. "The Trumpet Man". At Cafe Beignet in the French Quarter, Steamboat Willie performs nightly with his small band. As they did on their previous trip with HH2G, many of the kids were able to perform alongside Steamboat, which I hear brought in quite the crowd!

Catholic Mission Trips - March 2015

Catholic Mission Trips arranged a group of 9 folks from Minnesota and sent them down to the deep south for some hard labor. The team spent their week working on the home of Mr. Gleason.

St. Louis University - March 2015

March 2015 was full of Midwesterners! Team leader Kayla arranged a repeat trip to New Orleans for her team from St. Louis University. Text books were put aside and replaced with paint brushes, hammers, screw guns, and sheetrock. They jumped right into the work on 3 jobsites: one group assisted homeowner Mr. Gleason with painting, baseboards, and hanging sheetrock. The second group furthered the painting work at Philippi Evangelical COGIC, and the third group took on the task of installing baseboards at Living Faith Assembly of God.
Group 1 launched the work of HH2G on Mr. Gleason's home, preparing the way for the next teams to carry on the work. We look forward to seeing the finished product!