It may be hard to believe it's been four years since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, and some volunteers from Wallingford say time hasn't softened its devastating and deadly blow.
A year after the costliest hurricane in U.S. history, a group of teachers from Wallingford traveled 1400 miles to help the city rebuild.
And being teachers, they thought they'd pass the lesson along. The next year, and every year since, a group of 50-75 high school students from Lyman Hall and Sheehan High School have been making the trip with the teachers and volunteering during their spring week break.
Allen Depalma is a senior at Sheehan High School, "It looked like something out of a movie, it looked surreal, like nothing has changed in 3 or 4 years that had passed."
Depalma is one of the students that make up the C.R.E.W. It stands for Community Revitalization Efforts of Wallingford.
Sheehan High School gym teacher Michael Tyrell was one of the original teachers to make that first trip, "I think there's a lot of people out there that need help and if you have the time and you have something to give, you should take the time to do it."
The teens team up with Habitat for Humanity and stay at their camp. And then they put on hardhats and get to work building houses, painting, holding clothing drives, and helping in the schools.
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Michele Lenzzo is also a senior at Sheehan High, " I knew nothing going into it, I didn't even know how to hammer."
And it's not just the students and teachers that are pitching in, local businesses and people within the community of Wallingford donate, because it costs between $35,000 and $50,000 dollars for the volunteers to make the trip.
If you would like to find out more about C.R.E.W. or would like to donate money, you can check out their website here.
