Seattle Works: Hands On Affiliate from Seattle

There's a group of 6 Seattlites sitting in the Gulfport Airport, waiting for our last minute flight out of town. All 12 of us were originally supposed to head out tomorrow morning, but bad weather changed our plans. But flexibility is a beautiful thing, so while a night out in New Orleans won't happen for us, it does mean we will be able to get back to Seattle in time for work and "life as normal" - whatever that means.

We wanted to share with the HOGC community some blogs that we have been keeping during our trip. Twelve of us from Seattle Works came down last Sunday. Seattle Works is a Hands On affiliate that focuses on the demographic of those in their 20s and 30s. While we regularly volunteer and are involved in our local Seattle community, this is our first trip out of town. We have been volunteering at HOGC for the last 6 days. For details, feel free to visit our group's blog.

Being Seattlites, not only did we make our mark by starting the Coffee Whisperer tradition (well, it isn't a tradition until y'all carry it on - so make Jaxon proud!)... but a few of us proudly follow the "computer geek" stereotype and have personal blogs devoted to our time in Biloxi.

Ryan and Noelle both have been recording their thoughts and pictures, and will continue to make updates as they process and advocate for the distaster relief efforts. Hey, afterall, Ryan works for Bill and Noelle works for Paul - so you never know what resources can be tapped into.

Also, a quick shoutout to the rockstar long-termers that completely floored us with their dedication, devotion, leadership skills, flexibility, hospitality, gratitude and humor. A huge thank you to Eddie, Luc, Michelle, Aron, Mike, Sheli, Sarah, Kate, Tosh, Brannon, Amanda, Suzanne, Guillermo, Kristin, MJ and Brian - and I'm sure we're forgetting some people - but you guys helped make our week an amazing experience. While your long-term experience inevitably gets a little jaded over time; our interactions with you all deeply impacted our experience.