Bona's responds to Ike's aftermath

Spring break gives students time to relax, refresh and enjoy themselves. However, 44 members of the St. Bonaventure community spent their break in Galveston, Texas, picking up debris and restoring houses damaged during Hurricane Ike.

The citizens of Galveston were impressed with BonaResponds' work.

"The people we met on the street and in restaurants could not believe that these 50 kids came all the way from St. Bonaventure, N.Y., on their own dime to help out the people in Texas," Bill Hammond, '66, who volunteered with BonaResponds, wrote in an e-mail.

BonaResponds spent Feb. 27 to March 7 cleaning two miles of road, hanging drywall, wrapping and insulating houses, rough wiring (doing preliminary electrical work before electricians come in) and gutting homes, which includes knocking water-damaged walls down in order to put new ones up.

The group flew into Houston, stayed in a Galveston church and slept in sleeping bags or on cots. Members worked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day and received a short lunch break.

"It's tiring," Brittany Feldmeyer, a freshman undecided liberal arts major, said. "But gutting a house is fun because you get to break stuff and knock stuff down."

The volunteers were well received by the locals, said Jim Mahar, leader of BonaResponds and assistant professor of finance.

"We cleaned the sides of the road that were filled with debris. The people who live there are constantly reminded of (Hurricane Ike)," Mahar said. "The fire chief pulled up (and) told us how much they appreciated the work. There were people going by honking."

The trip to Galveston not only helped the locals, but also allowed Bonaventure students to bond with each other.

"Even though Bona's is such a small school and you feel like you know everyone, I met so many people down there and was able to put names with faces," Lauren Pingelski, a freshman management major, wrote in an e-mail. "Some of the jobs were boring or difficult, but they brought us together as a group, and it was a fun experience."

Patrick Brutus, a senior philosophy/pre-law major, agreed.

"On our down time we would take a nap," Brutus joked. "But we also got to know each other. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Brutus, who has volunteered with BonaResponds for the last three years, has previously traveled to Mississippi to clean up after Hurricane Katrina.

"I've been to the Gulf before, and every time I went down there I had a good experience," Brutus said. "I knew I wanted to be a part of it this year and be a leader."

St. Bonaventure alumni took part in the trip, making it especially memorable to many students.

"The Bona alumni and other people we worked with were truly special," Pingelski wrote. "I learned more from them than I thought possible, and they worked harder than all of us combined. It was amazing to see these older gentlemen keeping up with all of us."

Laura Proctor, a sophomore elementary education major, said she found the alumni interesting to be with.

"They were awesome to work with, and their stories made the trip very exciting," Proctor wrote in an e-mail. "It was interesting to hear how Bona's was 40 some odd years ago."

Everyone worked hard, Feldmeyer said, even through pitfalls.

"One alumnus fell in a hole, and they wanted to take him to the hospital, and he said, 'Hell no, give me my tools back!'" Feldmeyer said.

The work ethic of the students, especially the women, impressed Hammond.

"The girls worked as hard, if not harder, than the guys, and let me tell you this was hard, dirty work," Hammond wrote. "We're talking nail guns, circular saws, jack hammers and saber saws. The girls were not shy at all about using these power tools and got to be quite good. I think I witnessed some pent-up aggression with these girls using the power tools."

Overall, the dedication of students, alumni and leaders provided a significant contribution in the cleanup process.

"On one occasion we had been gutting a house all day, and everyone was dead tired," Hammond wrote. "Toward the end the home owner asked if we could cut down about 15 trees in his yard that had all died as a result of the flood."

Hammond said the chainsaw kept breaking down. When it got to be 5:30 p.m., Rob Ryer, a sophomore physical education major and one of the student leaders, sent everyone back for dinner and stayed to finish the job.

"It was that kind of dedication and effort that really makes you proud of the students of today who will be the leaders of tomorrow," Hammond wrote. "I was very touched.