Labor of Love

As New Orleans marks the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, volunteers from the entire Tulane community will be out in force on Aug. 27 and 28 to work on service projects across the city, all wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the words, “For the Love of New Orleans.”

On back-to-back community service days, first for Tulane faculty, staff and alumni on Aug. 27, followed by students on Aug. 28, all volunteers will wear this T-shirt. (Illustration by Melinda Viles)

Tulane faculty and staff members, as well as alumni, are signing up now for the Wave of Green day of service to be held on Friday, Aug. 27. Interested volunteers who can't attend on Friday can join the hundreds of Tulane students who will participate in the annual Outreach Tulane event on Saturday, Aug. 28.

Both groups will show their solidarity by wearing identical green T-shirts designed by Melinda Viles, manager of graphic design in the Tulane publications office, and senior Joanna Byrne, who is involved in planning the Outreach Tulane event.

The service day for employees “continues Tulane's long tradition of service to the city of New Orleans,” said Vincent Ilustre, executive director of the Tulane Center for Public Service.

“The day also provides us an opportunity to celebrate each other, our resilience and the city we love,” Ilustre said.

The volunteers will meet at 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 27 at the Wilson Center on the uptown campus, where buses will depart for the volunteer sites. They will spend the day either building homes for Habitat for Humanity or helping to beautify City Park. Lunch will be provided. Tulane employees will not be asked to take a vacation day to participate but do need to get permission from their supervisors prior to the event.

Buses will return volunteers to the Wilson Center at 3 p.m., where a closing celebration with food and drink will be held near Turchin Stadium.

Tulane president Scott Cowen said, “We need your commitment to mark this landmark anniversary, honor Katrina's victims and survivors and make a meaningful contribution to the renewal of our city.”