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Pass It Along in New Orleans    
Pass It Along, a local non-profit organization located in Sparta, sent four of its’ staff members to New Orleans to attend the Hands On Network’s annual leadership conference. Pass It Along is Sussex County’s local affiliate to the Hands On Network which is a national organization with over 68 affiliates world wide, including affiliates formed in New Orleans and Biloxi after Hurricane Katrina.

As part of the conference itinerary, Pass It Along staff members took a tour of the ninth ward. The vividness of the damage brought home the fact that much work still needs to be done and it is going to take time. Many homes still are marked with the infamous red x’s that indicated who checked the homes, the date they were checked and if they contained any dead people or pets. It was a stark realization to the fact that this is an extremely poor neighborhood that is in dire need of help. On the final day of the conference, Pass It Along staff members, Diane Taylor, Maria Miley, Missy Szladek and Pamela Capaci, along with over 700 other affiliate volunteers, some from as far away as Australia and Shanghai, helped rebuild a local ball park and restore several storm damaged homes by painting, gutting walls, removing appliances, and re-screening windows.

Celebrities joining the effort included Kristen Kemp from the Learning Channel and Yvonne Kopacz-Wright and Robert Newman from the soap opera "Guiding Light." The Guiding Light daytime drama celebrated its 70th anniversary in January with Hands On Network by announcing a unique year long partnership focusing primarily on raising the level of volunteerism across the US. They kicked off their campaign by shutting down production of their show in New York during their anniversary week in January and sent the entire cast and crew down to the Gulf Coast. They helped rebuild homes and participated in other volunteer activities throughout the region. The special episode featuring the cast and crew as themselves aired February 14th 2007.

One of the highlights of the trip was a celebration at Ernie K Doe’s Mother In Law Lounge. This was a community gathering place of local jazz music and dedicated to the life of jazz singer Ernie K-Doe. It is also the home to Katrina survivor Ms. Antoinette K-Doe, the 63 year old widow of Ernie K-Doe. Her home is the apartment above the lounge and the storm left the business on the bottom floor under 5 ½ feet of standing water for days. She was tearing at her walls by herself one day after the water receded when a member of Hands On New Orleans found her and offered to help. Since that day 3-7 volunteers have been at the site working to clean it up for Antoinette. Ms. Antoinette has shown her appreciation by cooking home made New Orleans food every day for the volunteers. Now Ms. Antoinette wants to give back by volunteering because as she says, "When we receive, we have to give back."

Mahatma Gandhi’s quote, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world" is the dictum Pass It Along and the 68 Hands On Network affiliate members promote. Hands On Network President and CEO, Michelle Nunn collected personal accountings from affiliate volunteers and transformed this collection of experiences into a book entitled, "Be the Change". Submissions from four of Pass It Along’s local volunteers, Susan Loyas, Amber Mauriello, Cathy Brazill and Trevor Morrow, are included in the book. On Thursday the 22 of March, Hands On Network was featured on the NBC Today show. Nunn described the importance of this book and our mission. If anyone is interested in finding out how you can get involved with the effort in New Orleans or to volunteer here in our community, please feel free to contact Pass It Along at 973-726-9777 or visit our website www.passitalong.org to send us an email.