Students Provide Relief from Hurricane Isaac

August 31, 2012

DRAW Disaster Relief at Work - Asbury StudentsTwelve Asbury University students are serving Louisiana residents over the holiday weekend as they help clear debris in the wake of Hurricane Isaac.

The group is joining with other volunteers from Michigan and Tennessee under the leadership of a non-profit organization called DRAW (Disaster Relief at Work, Inc.). DRAW was founded by Asbury alumnus Greg Martin ’01 to provide relief to people experiencing the destruction of natural disasters. The team will work with the City Mission of New Orleans from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening before heading back north.

The call for volunteers was issued late Monday afternoon as it became apparent that relief teams would be needed even before Hurricane Isaac made landfall. Martin expects the team to have opportunities to assist with cutting up and moving fallen trees, helping families salvage valuables, patching roofs and, not insignificantly, offering a listening ear.

“The most important part of the relief trips isn’t the physical work as much as it is the ministry of presence,” Martin said. “Disaster-stricken areas have gone through a loss, and so the fact that we are just with them is the most important part of our ministry.”