Volunteering in New Orleans with Camp Restore – Wonderful Experience!

There’s nothing in the world that you can remotely compare New Orleans to, and that’s just one of the many charming things about NOLA. I first came to the Big Easy 12 years ago and fell in love with its vibrance, magical essence and lively, friendly spirit. I come back as often as I can to not only enjoy the local culture, but to volunteer.

Although it’s been 12 years since Hurricane Katrina swept through the city causing the levees to break and destroying anything in its path, areas of New Orleans still need to be rebuilt and helped.

So, I signed up with Camp Restore to give back in some small way. The organization is a Christian based non-profit, but you don’t need to be of a certain faith to volunteer with them. In fact, religion is not mentioned or discussed, at least it wasn’t with me, and I am Christian.

Heather Newgen helps cleans up the Lower 9th Ward

Photo by: Carolyn Eastman

What I love about Camp Restore is that they partner with 80 to 100 local non-profits, which means as a volunteer you have a large selection of projects to choose from. So, for volunteers like myself who don’t have special skills like a construction or medical background, you can find something to do that helps make a positive impact on the community.

The two projects I chose were working in a food bank and cleaning up parts of the Lower 9th Ward—the area most affected by Katrina.

Heather Newgen volunteers at a New Orleans Food Bank

Photo by: Carolyn Eastman

Camp Restore works hard to match each volunteer’s skill set with projects, which is one of the many reasons I would recommend them—they’re responsible.

Another reason they’re great, is they offer affordable housing for volunteers. They charge a flat per-person rate of $40/night Sunday-Thursday, and $25/night Friday-Saturday for lodging, three meals a day and project coordination. These rates reflect a hot breakfast and sack lunch Monday-Friday, dinner Sunday through Thursday, and a continental breakfast (cereal, danishes, fruits, etc.) on the weekends.

While I didn’t stay there since I have a friend in NOLA I always crash with, I did see the bunk style accommodations and they were clean, have a common area to hang out in, and there’s WiFi.

Volunteers I met at Camp Restore

Photo by: Carolyn Eastman

In terms on transportation, you are responsible for getting to and from your project. But, you have several options. You can rent a car, ride share, take the bus, or the street car.

The employees I worked with at Camp Restore were really communicative before and during the trip. I felt welcomed and enjoyed my time with them.

They’re an organization that I would absolutely volunteer with again.

Here’s a vlog that shows my experience with them.

And here’s another vlog I did that shows you fun things to do in the city on your down time from volunteering.