By Sharon Sharpe
The Times-Picayune
ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. — Local firefighters are planning a trip to Ohio for an annual gathering that commemorates the 9/11 disaster by helping other communities rebuild after disasters.
Volunteers from St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 1, Slidell Firefighters Association Local 2455, St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 7 and American Legion Post 374 will travel to Little Sioux, Iowa, to help rebuild the Little Sioux Scout Camp. The camp was destroyed by an F3 tornado that ripped through the town June 11, 2008. Four young Eagle Scouts were killed and dozens injured.
The group will represent the Slidell and Pearl River communities as a way to show gratitude for the assistance received from throughout the country after Hurricane Katrina. It will leave Sept. 2 to join more than 1,000 volunteers in Little Sioux, to rebuild a chapel and other structures lost at the camp.
Erik Kreppein, fire prevention officer with St. Tammany Parish Fire District 1 said the trips are annual events that began in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy. The New York Says Thank You Foundation was formed in response to the tremendous outpouring of support to New Yorkers in their time of need. Foundation members arrived in the Slidell area after Hurricane Katrina to help, and ended up building a clean room for Tony Nata who was recovering from childhood leukemia.
Kreppein and local firefighter and other first responders began to join in the tours of duty that go to an area devastated by natural disaster each year on the anniversary of 9/11.
Local support is needed to help send the volunteers. It takes about $300 per person to cover expenses for the week, Kreppein said. “They use their cars, tools and equipment,” for the endeavor.
Last year, more than $3,000 was raised to send 11 local volunteers to help rebuild in Greensburg, Kan. That number was cut to four because of Hurricane Gustav. “Our guys stayed back because we were needed here. Chief (Larry Hess) let me go to represent the community,” he said.
“We planted a tree during ceremonies at the end of the build,” in Kansas. Remaining funds were donated to the town for trees to be planted in memory of those lost.
Also in Kansas, a volunteer brought a tattered flag that hung on a building during 9/11. “The ladies in Greensburg took that flag and patched it” with remains from a flag that was in the tornado in their hometown. That flag will go to Little Sioux, to continue being mended.
He expects to see volunteers from Greenville in Iowa. The annual events have become a reunion for those who have experienced rebuilding after a disaster. Kreppein has been to rebuilds in Indiana, Texas, Kansas, and now Iowa, since Katrina hit Slidell.
“It’s just been getting bigger and bigger,” he said. “We got so much help from around the country, afterward I wanted to show thanks and help out,” he said.
Copyright 2009 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company