Katrina Relief Efforts
Mixed Emotions Collide in
Second Meeting to Plan Help

By Alex Holachek (September 17, 2005)

The second meeting of students interested in planning for relief for victims of hurricane Katrina featured a mix of frustration and hope, as students expressed concern that the movement was steadily losing viability, yet expressed enthusiasm for a possible plan of action presented by assistant principal Tim Guy.

Guy empathized with the students’ perceptions that things were moving too slowly and offered a two-fold explanation of the difficulties he had encountered over the past week and a half he has been working on the project.

First, he said, the short-term needs of the evacuees were being so adequately met at present that he had been hard-pressed to find an actual need anywhere for small-scale relief items such as toiletries. At the same time, relief agencies have been so swamped with activity that it made it difficult to get responses to inquiries about ways to possibly help. Second, Guy said that he did not want to publicize Mason’s efforts excessively until it was firmly established exactly what those efforts would be.

But spirits picked up when Guy, who has been researching myriad possibilities as to how Masonites might best help in relief efforts, floated the idea of working with Habitat for Humanity, a home building non-profit agency, which has a program called “House in a Box.” This program, if it were to be possible, would consist of George Mason students funding and participating in the construction of a house that would then be taken partially apart and shipped to an area ravaged by hurricane Katrina.

This proposal was met with enthusiasm, though Guy cautioned, “We don’t have anything beyond an idea at this point.” Still, students wanted to accelerate fundraising efforts, even if the ultimate destination of those funds was not immediately clear.

At one point during the discussion, senior Eric Brooks said, “I think we need something immediate” to demonstrate how important it is to show the Mason community that relief efforts are underway and meaningful.

Brooks’s comment seemed to reflect the feelings of many in attendance that the school had not moved swiftly enough to begin fundraising efforts for Katrina relief, especially considering how fast plans were put into effect following the tsunami disaster last year immediately following winter break. At that time students and teachers mobilized themselves within days to raise over $38,000 in a variety of ways, including concerts, white elephant sales, and tee-shirt sales.

Guy concluded the meeting by asserting that he anticipated having a plan in four to five days.