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Three UD students join Gulf Coast-relief work trip
3:54 p.m., Dec. 15, 2006--Three UD students are participating in the Alpha Zeta fraternity's Gulf Coast work trip to Louisiana, Dec. 17-22, to assist farmers, ranchers and rural communities not yet recovered from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Alpha Zeta, a national agricultural co-ed fraternity, is sending 30 members from colleges across the country to Vermilion Parish in south central Louisiana for the five-day volunteer project. As part of the Louisiana group, Dusti Vanderwende, Jason Peiffer and Meredith Perry, UD seniors, will be mending fences, rebuilding barns and clearing brush and debris. “I think that this work trip is a great opportunity to spread some holiday cheer in the agricultural community of southern Louisiana. Being from a farm in Delaware, the vitality of farmers and their lands means more to me than anything in the world,” Vanderwende said. Vanderwende, Peiffer and Perry attended the National Alpha Zeta Leadership conference in California last spring where they met fraternity brothers and sisters from across the country. “They're a motivated group of caring individuals who share my passion for agriculture and I look forward to seeing them again,” Vanderwende said. “There's still work to be done,” said Brian Reuwee, Alpha Zeta associate director. “When we went down in January, four months after the hurricanes, southern Louisiana was still a disaster area. I knew it wouldn't be a one-time visit,” he said. The Louisiana Farm Bureau is working with Alpha Zeta to place its crews in locations with the greatest need and is providing lodging for the group that will gather in St. Louis to leave for the work trip. The fraternity is funding transportation from St. Louis to Louisiana. Participants are coming from universities in California, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New York and Ohio. Alpha Zeta is the oldest national professional honor society for men and women in agriculture and natural resources. Alumni membership totals more than 117,000. The organization is dedicated to recognizing scholarship, developing leadership, building character and fostering fellowship in the agricultural and natural resource professions. |
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