News Archives - 2007

During Spring break of 2006, several Augsburg students boarded a bus which took them to Biloxi, Mississippi where they literally rebuilt the lives of people who had been torn apart by Hurricane Katrina. One of these students was so moved by what she experienced, that she decided to go back and pick up where she left off.

Hilary Neste was studying abroad in Spain during first semester when Hurricane Katrina hit the southern coast of the United States. The question from the people in Spain, Neste said, was why wasn’t the United States doing more to help these people? So when the opportunity came up for a Spring break trip to Biloxi to help the people hit by Katrina, she jumped at the chance.

After she returned to Augsburg and finished out spring semester, she decided to go back to Biloxi to volunteer just for the summer. But summer soon turned into fall and fall into winter. Neste only recently returned to Augsburg to finish out her last semester before graduating in May.

Before heading back last summer, Neste was able to get a transfer from her job here in Minnesota down to Biloxi and after she decided to stretch out her time into the school year, she arranged to take classes at the University of Southern Mississippi, so she would not lose any credits. But it was her work down in Biloxi, which had the most impact on her.

“This kind of experience changes people,” Neste said. That became most evident to her during her second stay, as she watched and supervised new groups of volunteers.

“I could see the change in the volunteers from when they first arrived until the day they went home. We got to know each other and grew together. It brought us all closer together.”

Neste isn’t the only one who went back to the area to help with the rebuilding efforts. She said she knows of one church group from Michigan who has returned seven times, sometimes with the same people, but with new ones added. Not only do they gain something while down in Biloxi, Neste said, but they take something back with them when they return home.

Neste said she would like to return to the Biloxi area after she graduates this spring. Her original plans were to go abroad, but now she wants to stay in the United States and help “our people first.”

“I would like to work with Lutheran Disaster Response because of all the good things they do,” Neste said. “It’s a lot easier to go to work everyday when you do something meaningful.”

Spring Break Trips this year include:

• Pedalers for Peace bike trip to Mississippi and Louisiana
• Campus Ministry group to New Orleans
• Go Away Here project, in which students will study and do community service project in the Twin Cities
• Augsburg Choir to Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and Minnesota
• Augsburg baseball team and men’s golf team to Arizona
• Augsburg softball team, and track and field team to California