Published: March 14, 2009 10:43 pm         

TRIBUNE-STAR EDITORIAL: A spring break for all to remember

Student volunteers made their mark in one short week

TERRE HAUTE — Anyone living in the Wabash Valley since at least last summer knows the havoc caused by the June 7 flood. To the rest of the country, that disaster probably has faded from most memories. A lot of bad national news, including weather, has accumulated since then.

That is why those T-shirts, worn by visiting college students from around the United States, were such a welcome sight for Terre Hauteans last week. Their inscription read: 2009 United Way Alternative Spring Break — Biloxi, Detroit, Houston, New Orleans, Terre Haute.

The city is not forgotten. Our inclusion on that list validates for others what we already knew — the flood caused a lot of pain here.

The United Way chose Terre Haute as one of five destinations for a team of college students who volunteered to spend their spring break helping to rebuild battered U.S. communities. Biloxi, Houston and New Orleans are still recovering from the devastating 2005 hurricanes. Detroit, the heartland of the American auto industry, is ground zero for the nation’s economic crisis. Terre Haute, a much smaller place, bore the brunt of flooding last June, when high waters damaged homes, businesses, levees, vehicles and equipment.

Many of the 65 Alternative Spring Breakers sent to Terre Haute knew little, or nothing about last year’s flood.

“This didn’t get much press coverage,” said Josh Vermeesh, a volunteer from Delta Community College at Bay City, Mich.

The event likely was overshadowed by more dramatic TV news footage of Mississippi River flooding in Iowa and Illinois.

But the students who spent last week in Terre Haute received a vivid explanation of the local flood’s impact through photographs and heart-felt stories from homeowners, farmers and families. The students listened, while also helping to hang insulation and drywall in homes left vacant since the high waters raged. That experience was cathartic for flood victims, and enlightening for the college kids.

“These kids want to hear. They want to know who they’re helping,” said the Rev. Honnalora Hubbard, construction manager for the Wabash Valley Long Term Disaster Recovery Coalition.

The students helped people forced out of their homes eight months ago. They helped clean and organize the Recovery Coalition warehouse, where teams of volunteers from various organizations around the nation will gather over the next two years to continue the work. They helped give the community a booster shot of hope.

The students sacrificed their chance to participate in a college ritual — spending a spring break of frivolity in a tropical locale — to come here. We appreciate their spirit, work and empathy, and extend our thanks. The families they touched won’t forget them.