Hurricane Katrina/Rita

After graduating from Grand Valley State in 2005, I took a year to decided just what I was going to do with my life. While working as a waitress, I was moved by an Oprah special on Hurricane Katrina. I went through 40 hours of Red Cross training in 4 days, and found myself on a plane to Louisiana 2 days after. I spent 5 weeks down in Alexandria, LA working at a mass care shelter for evacuees of the disaster. While we were there, Hurricane Rita decided to show up and we received over 1,000 new evacuees overnight. It was SO scary. I met the most amazing people on earth; they are the most caring, genuine, loving friends I am honored to know. It was one of the most memorable and life-changing experiences I will ever go through! Forever New Orleans.