"60 Pounds of Oranges"

While in New Orleans, our team volunteered in a variety of programs. We divided into two groups and spent our time house-gutting, preparing and serving food to the hungry, and handing out food, water, and supplies to anyone who stopped by our Mobile Respite Care Unit (pictured here). The unit is operated by a handful of energetic and dedicated folks, two of whom happen to be deacons in the Episcopal church.

Deacon Quin Bates, who helped guide us through our duties, has been working with the unit since the flood waters subsided. The Mobile Respite Care Unit is essentially a full-size R.V. that is driven out to areas where residents have been hit hardest by the flood waters, and it is stocked with items to give out to those who need it. A bag is filled for each person who comes by, and on the days we worked the unit those items were toilet paper, paper towels, Nutrigrain bars, Ramen Noodle Soup, lollipops, and bottled water, amongst other things. Everything is rationed, right down to the laundry detergent (1 1/2 scoops of powdered All put into a ziplock baggie).

After driving for some time on our first day, we parked the R.V. in St. Bernard Parish, in an abandoned strip mall parking lot. Our trip is unannounced, really -- people just know to look for the R.V. -- and before we can get the sandwich board up to announce our arrival, cars begin to pull over. On the first day, we spent 3 1/2 hours in that parking lot, and my guess would be we served at least 150 people. On the second day, there was even more.

People pull over because they see you giving out things, or they call their friends and family and tell them to get over to this parking lot because they've just spotted you. Without question, no identification required, we served men, women and children of all races and sizes. There wasn't a label you could put on these people, like 'homeless' or 'poor' or anything like that. Simply put, they were in need.

Deacon Bates was always telling us to let people know where we were from -- New York City -- because they would feel special and would think it was wonderful that we came all this way to help out. Sure enough, people were overjoyed to hear that out-of-staters still cared. A few even got teary-eyed in knowing that we were there to help.

We left the Mobile Respite Care Unit both days feeling like we wanted to do more -- wishing there was something more we could do -- something we could give.

On Monday, marking only a week of us being back in NYC, I received a voicemail from Carol, a fellow volunteer pictured above in the blue jacket. She wanted to know how to get in touch with Deacon Quin because she was sending him oranges and wanted to give him a heads up before their arrival.

I called her back and we chatted for a few minutes, both of us remarking how it felt like so long ago since we were down in New Orleans.

"Well, anyway," Carol said, "I ordered a crate of oranges for Quin and I wanted to make sure he knew they were coming, just in case." I gave her his cell phone number and told her I thought it was incredibly kind of her to do something like this.

"I hope he'll enjoy those. It's 60 pounds of oranges!" she said. "I was trying to think of what I would like, and I thought, I'd like nothing more than to bite into a nice juicy orange. That would make my day."

I think she's got that right. And now it will most certainly make the day of anyone who comes by the Mobile Respite Care Unit once the oranges have arrived.