Press Release

Nashua High South Headed to New Orleans

Twenty-one Nashua students will spend their Spring Break in New Orleans, La., next month, building houses with Habitat for Humanity.
"We have a wonderful group of students going on the trip," said Jennifer Seusing, principal of Nashua High School South (NHSS). "They are giving up their spring breaks to pitch in and give homeless families a place to call their own."
The trip to New Orleans is Nashua South's third such "alternative spring break" in wake of the hurricane Katrina disaster. In past years South students have helped out with hurricane cleanup in Pass Christian, Miss. and built houses in Baton Rouge, La.
The students involved applied to take part in the trip and are responsible for raising the funds needed—about $660 per student for transportation and housing. Fund-raising activities include bake sales, tagging, silent auctions and donation solicitation.
Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in August 2005, was the sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. It caused devastation along much of the north-central Gulf Coast of the United States. At least 1,836 people lost their lives in the storm and subsequent floods, making it one of the deadliest U.S. Hurricanes on record. The storm is estimated to have been responsible for $81.2 billion in damage, making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Thousands of families were made homeless by the hurricane and many of these are still living in temporary housing. To date, Habitat for Humanity has built more than 700 new homes for families displaced by the storm.