By Tim and Sheila Hudson
It began with a student named Nelson Davis and his dream of a giant egg hunt for children. When he shared that dream with his campus ministry, he had no idea that a church in Denver would make it come true.
Rocky Mountain Christian Church offered $20,000 to Christian Campus Fellowship at Georgia Tech to come up with a “big idea” for an overlooked area of New Orleans.
“Eggs in the Easy”””a student-led initiative””was devised to accomplish two goals over Easter weekend: build a quality playground for the Hurricane Katrina devastated community of Chalmette, Louisiana, and host a massive egg hunt for all the children in the area. Soon a fenced playground, ball fields, a pavilion, and picnic area became part of the dream.
Nelson and fellow students formed a management team: They spent four days at Kaboom Ministries learning how to install the playground equipment. Derek Lewis became the playground coordinator. Michael LaMont was in charge of publicity both in Georgia and Louisiana. Chad Newton assumed the role as Sunday coordinator of worship, a cookout, and the massive egg hunt.
The vision of giving to the children of Katrina kept spirits high. No sacrifice was too great. The goal was to bring the families out of their Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers for an afternoon of fun in the sun.
The Link to Katrina
Georgia Tech and University of Georgia students are familiar with the New Orleans/Biloxi Gulf Coast area. When Katrina hit nearly two years ago, student groups began taking trips to help with cleanup, gutting houses, and rebuilding in the area. Both campus ministries raised funds through phone-a-thons, T-shirt sales, solicitations to employers, collecting change from fellow students, and doing odd jobs and giving the proceeds to Eggs in the Easy.
The link to Katrina began early when Georgia Tech CCF sent workers to help a week after Katrina hit. “Geaux to the Gulf” became an ongoing project with more than 250 students volunteering their fall break in order to gut homes and clean up streets. A year later, media coverage and national attention dwindled, but another group of 250 Tech students spent their fall break helping with the ongoing relief efforts.
The CCF at the University of Georgia accepted the challenge and commissioned its men”s group to travel to New Orleans for a weekend. With only one day to work, they gutted three houses in the 9th Ward. This spring the CCF at UGA took 50 students to the Gulf for a week of gutting houses, trash gathering, cleaning, and demolition.
The crews went to work asking for donations of eggs for the Easter egg hunt. Sponsors donated more than 20,000 plastic Easter eggs that needed to be filled and transported. Donations included other Easter gifts and soccer balls for the children of Chalmette.
More than 500 students volunteered for the weekend. Through the Eggs in the Easy partnership, students from Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia Southern, Kennesaw, Auburn, Emory, and West Georgia college campuses formed lasting bonds of friendship.
The Sacrifices and the Celebration
The work was hard, the weather harsh, and the sacrifice was great. But all agreed this weekend wouldn”t be forgotten. It was the best way anyone could celebrate Jesus” resurrection.
Hundreds donated energy, eggs, money, time, talents, and a weekend away from family, friends, and the comforts of home. Most of the volunteers were students who don”t have a lot of money, but who do have time, loads of enthusiasm, and big hearts. They raised money to cover transportation, gasoline, meals and housing for workers, tools, and other expenses so it wouldn”t cost the volunteers anything.
Corporate sponsors provided funds, fencing materials, food, grills, candy, and supplies for the egg hunt, transportation of building materials, playground equipment, tarps for covering the work areas, tools, work gloves, and endless miscellaneous expenses.
Everything was accounted for except the weather. The cold winds came, followed by rain, but it didn”t dampen the spirit of love that permeated the Chalmette community. The fence and playground were completed on time. Crews began digging holes for fence posts on Friday and continued through late Saturday.
Fledge Fiamingo, who headed up the fence-building crew, said, “Five years of experience working in the fence industry began to shine. I was ecstatic to find out Eggs in the Easy needed a fence. I am able to give back now. Allowing me the opportunity to spearhead that side of the project was awesome for me.”
The gloomy weather persisted until Sunday after worship at the Chalmette Middle School gym. For one student, her best moment came that day, after the Easter service. She wrote:
God had already shown himself by letting the sun shine through the cloudy skies, and my heart was beginning to break open. After Communion, the band struck up again, but I went outside. I walked down the deserted street alone, thinking, praying, and generally being silent. From out of nowhere, I heard the band play in the gym and I started crying. To hear that joyous music on a street that has been forgotten, in a gym that is usually desolate, and a city that has been silenced was enough to pull at my heartstrings. I will never forget that moment as long as I live. That city, that street, needed God”s music. And I thank God he sent me out there alone to experience that.
The clouds lifted; the cookout and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the playground were next. At 1 pm the children began arriving for the egg hunt. They were greeted by smiles and workers in bunny ears. Every hour until 5 PM the children filled their baskets with eggs stuffed with love and candy from those who care.
One campus minister said this:
I marveled at the student-led trip. The ministry was praying for Eggs in the Easy each day and night. I sat back mainly because our students, led by Fledge and Sharla, were doing better than I could at all facets. We were unleashing everyone”s talents. Ann was a detail person, William was a builder, Ivy loved kids, Brittany was the smile of the movement, and Beau organized the transportation. It was amazing.
Seeing the Future
One student said, “I think the city will return, but I don”t think it will be my parents” generation that will bring the city back. I think it will be my generation.”
Eggs in the Easy was anything but. It wasn”t effortless or problem-free, but more than 500 enthusiastic students would say it was worth anything to bring smiles to children and witness a community resurrected.
Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” I believe the future of New Orleans is in very good hands.
Sheila Hudson serves with her husband, Tim, who is campus minister with Christian Campus Fellowship at the University of Georgia, Athens.
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