2009 Jazz Fest Outreach: Rebuilding Louisiana's Coastline

Every year, the ASCE New Orleans Branch volunteers a Kid's Booth at the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. This year ASCE outreach to children at Jazzfest is "Rebuilding Louisiana's Coastline" - a tilting table that will use balls to mimic water flow and adjustable plastic trees that can be removed, added, rearranged to help children see the impact of a healthy marsh on minimizing surge damage. We will have a new activity along with the "Rebuild New Orleans" activity that uses wooden blocks (recycled from rebuilding and construction waste) for the kids to decorate again, as opposed to legos or boxes. We have 7 days: 1st weekend is April 24-26 and second weekend is April 30 and May 1-3. Volunteers are needed (only 2-3 each shift which is a reduction). The setup will be similar to last year:

11-2:30 morning shift

2:00-5:30 afternoon shift

Each volunteer gets a Jazzfest ticket to enter and can enjoy the fest before or after their shift, an ASCE teeshirt, and afternoon volunteers may get a parking pass. This is a nice event, and we do have shade. This is a great way for your middle or high school child to get service hours needed for school, scouts, etc. (and you will score brownie points as a cool parent!) Volunteers are not limited to ASCE members, so grab a spouse or a friend!

Check out the great schedule at http://www.nojazzfest.com

Norma Jean Mattei

Outreach Chair

nmattei@uno.edu