Helping Hands: 7 News To Join Church Group For Trip To Mississippi

How far would you go for a good deed?

Some people from St. Lawrence County can tell you exactly how far they’d go: 1,500 miles.

At Ogdensburg’s First Presbyterian Church, members of the congregation take the term “good neighbor” literally.

Nearly 40 people from the church have been flying and driving to and from the gulf coast of Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.

The idea to help their Mississippi neighbors started at choir practice.

They decided it was their mission to help rebuild some 50,000 homes.

“It was like an atomic bomb had gone off. There were very few houses still standing,” said Richard Paradis.

Some of the church members returned for a second, third and fourth time.

In that time, they’ve seen some changes.

On their first trip there were 50,000 families living in FEMA trailers.

There are still 10,000 left.

“We can’t give them back what they’ve lost, but we can help them to know that they’ve made some new friends,” said Pat Paradis.

Since the group started making the trips, it has grown to include people from all over the north country.

A dozen volunteers will leave for Mississippi on Tuesday.

7 News Reporter Alexandra Field is going with them and will write about her experiences daily on her blog on this web site.

See Alex’s report:

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