IVME ServeUP: New Orleans Fundraising

Help Us Help New Orleans!

ServeUp provides students with an opportunity to travel to New Orleans, LA to witness firsthand the devastation that resulted from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Participants get to learn about the history of NOLA as well as interact with people who survived and returned, hearing their intimate stories of life post-Katrina. The week is spent working with nonprofit organizations in NOLA, like Habitat for Humanity, Rebuild Together, local churches and more during the daytime. Every day ends with a debrief session to encourage reflection and to help process the information and stories that may be new and difficult for students to digest. Students have a unique experience working with students from other campuses and as part of a larger project as students travel to Nola from different campuses across the US during their respective spring breaks. This experience is transformative, educational, and challenges students to question social injustice, empowering them to make a difference, especially when returning to Boston after the trip. We need your help to get our students down to Louisiana.

ServeUp is a service trip that returns to New Orleans, LA every year since Hurricane Katrina because although efforts are being made to rebuild the city, too many communities are neglected in the process. While parts of NOLA have rebounded and established their reputation again after the hurricane, many more parts, particularly the low-income and minority filled neighborhoods are still struggling to get back on its feet. This trip is a continued effort to raise awareness across college campuses about the social and racial injustices present in today’s world. This act of standing in solidarity with the Lower Ninth Ward and other neighborhoods of New Orleans is also a message of support to all communities that feel outcast and neglected. Thank you for helping us make this happen for our students this year.