Dispatch # 7 – the final post – from the Jaywalker service expedition to New Orleans Oct. 17 – 24, 2010.

This photo shows just one of the many bands set up in the French Quarter on Saturday afternoon.

After coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde (see below), Jaywalker counselor Art Kleinschmidt showed us around his old stomping grounds a bit – what a scene. But we soon learned that after working so hard all week, the guys were pretty excited about just watching football and baseball back at the hotel. The next morning (this writer’s 4 year sobriety birthday), we all loaded into our rented van for the last time, and were off to the airport, excited to return to the mountains we love so much.

If there’s one thing about this service expedition that sticks in my mind, it’s this idea that it’s not really very hard to find someone who needs some help. Down in the Bayou, for instance, there are a whole lot of families and communities still in need of assistance to get back on their feet. It’s easy for me to forget that helping people makes me happy. What’s more, when I was as new in my recovery as the bunch we brought down here, I’m not so sure I would have acted with the compassion this group showed all week long.

What a trip!

Editor’s Note: Thanks once more to JWL residential manager Buckley Bailey-Gates for his daily posts and photos – and congrats on your four years!