This is a recent article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution
Volunteering after Katrina changed their lives forever
Helping restore and rebuild after 2005 hurricane was transformational event
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, January 04, 2009
For almost a year, Jonathan Kidwell waited to volunteer in New Orleans.
He had watched TV reports as Hurricane Katrina pummeled the city during his first days on the job as a graduate assistant at Ohio State University in 2005. He had landed a scholarship in a prestigious two-year master’s program in sports management.
Images of the disaster dogged him, but Kidwell stuck with his work and his classes for nine months. His opportunity arrived with summer break.
The relief trip to New Orleans transformed his life and led him to Atlanta, where he works for the Atlanta Community Tool Bank, a nonprofit that helps restore homes for the poor.
“There was no parting of the clouds and booming voice of God,” Kidwell, 26, said recently. “It was just the reaction that I had to that experience and how it affected me.”
