Ferrum College - The Ferrum Newsstand

   Ferrum College students and Dean of the Chapel Wes Astin spent 6 days in Materie and New Orleans, LA to assist in recovery efforts. They arrived on Friday, March 3, working at assigned homes each day and spending evenings on the floors of St. Matthews UMC in Materie. Their job was to "gut" our assigned homes. Breaking into two teams, it was our responsibility to go in and remove all furniture, all debris, mud, carpet/hardwood floors, walls, ceilings, appliances, fixtures and the nails from the studs. They would then treat the walls for mold. Upon completion of the work another team would come in and begin the rebuilding process.

    The head of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) Disaster Team for Louisiana told the Ferrum team that they had done a remarkable job of getting about 5 homes ready for reconstruction. He praised the team for their commitment to helping others and for giving up their spring break to offer assistance to people they had never met.
Wes Astin remarked, "Out of all the travels I have made in my lifetime, this was the most moving. I was honored to spend a week with these students who truly taught me the real meaning of Ferrum's motto: 'Not Self, But Others.'"

    "The news you see on TV does a fairly good job showing how bad the damage was to individual houses; the houses were swept clean off their foundations. However, what the news coverage doesn’t show you is how vast the total damage is. They don’t tell you that the majority of the homes in New Orleans are not suitable for living in – and they won’t be for quite a while still," said Thomas James '07.

    One of the women whose home students were working on had a stone alligator in her back yard for 40 years and asked the team to check on him. After reporting only slight damage to him, the woman commented that she no longer had a place for him and asked the team to escort him to Virginia. Today "Mary the Alligator" greets guests at the Ferrum College Christian Ministry Center. She is a constant reminder of one of the most powerful experiences students from Ferrum College have ever experienced.

    Ferrum College is a four-year, private, co-educational, liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Ferrum offers a choice of nationally recognized bachelor’s degree programs at a cost well below the national average for private colleges. For more information on Ferrum, visit www.ferrum.edu.

Ferrum Students Use Break to Help Others Recover, Gain Perspective
For immediate release: March 20, 2006	Contact: Dean Browell , (540) 365-4301, dbrowell@ferrum.edu
Ferrum College students and Dean of the Chapel Wes Astin spent 6 days in Materie and New Orleans, LA to assist in recovery efforts. They arrived on Friday, March 3, working at assigned homes each day and spending evenings on the floors of St. Matthews UMC in Materie. Their job was to "gut" our assigned homes. Breaking into two teams, it was our responsibility to go in and remove all furniture, all debris, mud, carpet/hardwood floors, walls, ceilings, appliances, fixtures and the nails from the studs. They would then treat the walls for mold. Upon completion of the work another team would come in and begin the rebuilding process. The head of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) Disaster Team for Louisiana told the Ferrum team that they had done a remarkable job of getting about 5 homes ready for reconstruction. He praised the team for their commitment to helping others and for giving up their spring break to offer assistance to people they had never met. Wes Astin remarked, "Out of all the travels I have made in my lifetime, this was the most moving. I was honored to spend a week with these students who truly taught me the real meaning of Ferrum's motto: 'Not Self, But Others.'" "The news you see on TV does a fairly good job showing how bad the damage was to individual houses; the houses were swept clean off their foundations. However, what the news coverage doesn’t show you is how vast the total damage is. They don’t tell you that the majority of the homes in New Orleans are not suitable for living in – and they won’t be for quite a while still," said Thomas James '07. One of the women whose home students were working on had a stone alligator in her back yard for 40 years and asked the team to check on him. After reporting only slight damage to him, the woman commented that she no longer had a place for him and asked the team to escort him to Virginia. Today "Mary the Alligator" greets guests at the Ferrum College Christian Ministry Center. She is a constant reminder of one of the most powerful experiences students from Ferrum College have ever experienced. Ferrum College is a four-year, private, co-educational, liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Ferrum offers a choice of nationally recognized bachelor’s degree programs at a cost well below the national average for private colleges. For more information on Ferrum, visit www.ferrum.edu.
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