Bloomsburg Athletes Return from Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts

BLOOMSBURG- The Bloomsburg University Athletes in Action (AIA) group that assisted in the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts have returned from their spring break trip. Becky Ritter (Phillipsburg/ Phillipsburg-Osceola) and Angela Brown (Sparta, NJ/ Sparta) of the women's soccer team, along with Jay Collins (Levittown/ Neshaminy), Matt Freedman (Holland/ Council Rock South, Wynton Shelton (Media/ Penncrest), Matt Bosso (Camp Hill/ Cedarcliff), Kyle Ream (Elliotsburg/ West Perry), and Joe Kantz (Port Treverton/ Selinsgrove) of the football team were the Bloomsburg athletes that gave up their spring break and made the trip to New Orleans.

While they were there, the athletes worked from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and spent the majority of their time gutting houses that were damaged from the hurricane. They knocked down everything in the house but the frame and cleaned out piles of trash that were as high as three feet tall. Many of the houses had not been touched at all since the hurricane struck.

When they weren't cleaning up houses, the AIA group spent their time living in a packed warehouse with other people who were helping out. They also spent time speaking with the citizens of New Orleans, hearing their personal tales of hardships. However, each night a concert was held to help everyone unwind from a long days work.

If you would like to know more about AIA as well as their trip to New Orleans, please contact Becky Ritter at BU_AIA@yahoo.com. Photos of their trip can be seen at: http://photos.yahoo.com/bu_aia.