Day of Service 2006
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2006-06-07 00:00:00-04:00
When Hurricane Katrina slammed down on the United States and ravaged communities all along the Gulf Coast, local New Orleans' residents like retired teacher's aide Brenda Poche sought refuge with her family on higher ground. But the 64 year old woman had no idea of the devastation to which she would return.
Her home, along with the homes of all her neighbors, was destroyed. All of her belongings ruined. Years of stored up memories washed away by relentless flood waters.
But thanks to the AARP Day of Service and the selfless efforts of hundreds of volunteers and community partners, Ms. Poche - a long time AARP member and community volunteer - is getting her home back.
On Thursday, May 11th, a group of volunteers supported by the AARP Foundation and the contributions of AARP members began rebuilding Ms. Poche's home. The day began with smiles, optimism, coffee, donuts and a film crew from the CBS Early Show, which reported on the efforts by the AARP Foundation to rebuild Ms. Poche's home and help the thousands of seniors impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
AARP started the Day of Service 5 years ago to enable it's employees across the country to follow their motto "To serve and not to be served." Every year, AARP and the AARP Foundation closes its national, regional and local offices so staff can volunteer in their local communities, providing assistance at food banks, visiting long-term care residents, building playgrounds for inner city youth, providing transportation for homebound seniors, or helping rebuild the home of one of Hurricane Katrina's victims.
For this year's Day of Service, staff from AARP's Louisiana office and the National office in Washington, DC joined volunteers assisting with AARP Foundation's ongoing efforts to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina rebuild their lives. One of those victims being a very grateful and gracious Ms. Brenda Poche.
In Ms. Poche's own words, "It's a wonderful, … wonderful blessing. I never would have been able to rebuild my home without the help of the AARP Foundation."
In order to help people like Ms. Poche, the AARP Foundation established the AARP Foundation Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund and committed $1 million dollars to get the Fund started. In addition to that contribution AARP is matching the contributions of members, staff and volunteers dollar-for-dollar, up to $1 million dollars.
To contribute to the AARP Foundation Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund please click here. 100% of all donations to this Fund go directly to benefit older victims.
Initial relief efforts focused on meeting the immediate needs of survivors, including food, water, clothing and basic supplies. Within days of the disaster, money had begun to reach organizations helping in relief efforts. AARP was even in the Houston Astrodome providing assistance to evacuees on the day they arrived and stayed until evacuees were relocated.
Today the AARP Foundation's efforts are focused on providing long-term recovery support and helping seniors like Ms. Poche rebuild their lives. The AARP Foundation's goal is to have Ms. Poche's home ready for her to move back in this fall and present her the keys to her new home at AARP's National Event in Anaheim, California, October 26-28, 2006.
Victims of Hurricane Katrina like Ms. Poche will need years of support in order to rebuild their homes, their communities and their lives. And they'll need the kind of support the AARP Foundation is uniquely qualified to provide: legal services re-establishing documents lost in the flood, assistance finding new means of employment in the community for those who can or need to work, help arranging for long-term care needs and simply being there for all that is needed to put their lives back in order.
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