CAN WE SPELL VOLUNTEER?

Pink Trailer, Metairie, LA 2005 from FALLEN PARADISE

All reproduction rights reserved Wm. Greiner

USA Today looks at Katrina volunteers who stuck around

USA Today has a report on some of the volunteers who came to help with the Hurricane Katrina rebuilding effort and ended up staying in metro New Orleans. John and Mary Mueller left their five-bedroom home in Florida and are spending two years living in a FEMA trailer in St. Bernard Parish. "Living here has really given us an appreciation for what we have. I challenge anyone who thinks their life stinks to come and live in a FEMA trailer for a year," John Mueller says. "That'll give you some perspective." Officials say they don't know how many volunteers are staying long-term in the New Orleans area, but an official with the United Methodist Church estimates 3,000 out of 42,000 volunteers who passed through their doors have stuck around. Read the story here. For a companion story about how New Orleans is adding residents who want to be part of the rebuilding, click here.