Michigan students come to Hattiesburg to help rebuild tornado victim’s home

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) - A group of college students from Michigan is spending spring break in Hattiesburg, helping to build a new home for a victim of the January 2017 tornado.

Thirteen volunteers from the Campus Ministry at Grand Valley State University are volunteering this week to put down flooring, paint doors and do other construction projects for this new home for Carolyn Smith on Wisteria Drive.

Her former home had to be demolished after the twister hit six years ago.

The Recover, Rebuild, Restore Southeast Mississippi organization is coordinating volunteer efforts for this project.

“I think the easy, fun thing to do would be to go to Fort Lauderdale and party on a beach, but why would you want to be partying on a beach when you could be serving someone,” said Anna Lindeboom, a sophomore at Grand Valley State University and team leader for the volunteers.

“(The students) are really coming to be a blessing, but they find that they are also blessed because they get to give back, they get to help people who are in unfortunate situations,” said Darrell Delaney, pastor of spiritual formation for Campus Ministry at Grand Valley State University.

The students will wrap up their work on Friday.

Administrators with R3SM say this home is the 29th and last complete home rebuild from the 2017 tornado.

They hope to finish all the work on the home sometime this Spring.

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