Our group was already a well oiled machine, thanks to strong and dedicated local leadership. The team had been serving in various areas across the US for a decade. Volunteer Expeditions connected us with amazing programs in New Orleans this year and allowed our students to have exposure to very strong leaders making a great impact. This partnership also benefitted us when we had to make unplanned adjustments during the week. Those quick adjustments allowed our students to stay engaged with real needs each day. We were privileged to participate in community transformation, but our work also allowed us to experience life transformation not only in NOLA, but in our personal lives as well. We are eternally grateful!
Volunteer Expeditions creates a synergy beyond itself throughh the people and communities it serves and those who come from many places and diverse backgrounds. All are changed but greatest are those that give.
what a great adventure for me to meet other people and to help also.The strength I got from this is remarkable life have been change who better out look on life since I join this nonprofits todo volunteer and to work with other but now I have learn so much that I did not know about LOVE for others
I have been a member of the Board of Directors of Volunteer Expeditions since the organization was founded. It has been a privilege to see the mission of the group making a larger impact in the lives of so many every year. Under the leadership of Patti Vile, Volunteer Expeditions offers thoughtful, organized, and meaningful opportunities to make a difference.
Volunteer Expeditions is an organization that rises to any challenge. Any group's volunteer vacation can and will be handled with ease. 200 volunteers? No problem. Your group wants to sing in a public square? Volunteer Expeditions can get the permits taken care of. You want to fly in on Christmas and eat dinner out? Been there, done that. Patti has a friendly and driven personality that makes her a pleasure to work with.
This is a very responsible, and responsive, organization. Under the attentive eye of Patti Vile’s leadership, Volunteer Expedition’s programming has continued to evolve in generating timely, pragmatic, and impactful awareness and support to the most fundamental and universal concerns amongst humanity. In remaining consistent and true to its ongoing mission focused on New Orleans over five years ago, Volunteer Expeditions has graduated to a new level in its continued delivery of social impact, offering new opportunities in volunteer travel affecting a variety of pressing objectives.
I went to new Orleans to work as a volunteer helping people who had been impacted by Hurricane Katrina. I did not know what to expect but my experience overwhelmed me. I had the opportunity to clear a field on which a building had stood. As a 65 year old this was not easy but I worked right along with the teenagers. I enjoyed mot only the physical work which I rarely do since I have a desk job, but listening to the people's personal experiences made all the difference. I think what impressed me the most was the true love and admiration that the key people who help direct the programs in new Orleans had for Patti Vile who leads the groups. We worked with various church groups in the community. I watched teens from an upscale community in New York mingle easily with other teens living in poverty. This had a significant impact on me. I believe the experience also had a significantz impact on the teenagers. Many indicated theY wanted to go back to volunteer.
Every once in a while, when you donate your time, you receive back far more than you've given. That was the case on my first trip to New Orleans with Patti Vile and Volunteer Expeditions. Our adventure began when the plane landed in New Orleans and the 25 of us hit the ground running. Each day startedbwith a stimulating motivational speaker who energized us for our day's work. From dry walling to painting to packing food in a food dispensary and back to the houses,we were all exhillerated with our hands on ability to help. In the evening, after the day's work was completed, the group would discuss our personal experiences of the day with most agreeing the higlight was working next to and with the people whose lives were so devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Their faith in God and humanity, their appreciation of our work and their joy in rebuilding their homes with us made the venture exceptional. However, the greatest experience was seeing the people with whom we worked express their gratitude to Patti for bringing her group, Volunteer Expeditions, to New Orleans. This trip was definitely a highlight and one of the most moving experience I have yet to encounter. The bottom line from this trip is simple to state: We gave of our time and effort and came home much the richer for it. Join one of Patti's trips. You won't be disappointed.
My name is Warrenetta Banks and I serve as the Volunteer Coordinator of the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development. As a returning resident born and raised in New Orleans post hurricanes Katrina and Rita it has been a struggle to rebuild our Historic Lower 9th Ward Community. I am truly grateful to Patti Vile and Volunteers Expedition and the many wonderful volunteers she continue to bring every year to help rebuild our lives, homes, churches, gardens and neighborhoods in the City of New Orleans. Most of the volunteers are unskilled in carpentry work but they bring so much love, hope and joy to us. Their work is priceless! I am so grateful to Volunteer Expedition volunteers that come from far and near to help me rebuild our beautiful City of New Orleans!
I was a member of the first Volunteer Expedition to New Orleans. Our group helped a family in the ninth ward reclaim their home after Katrina. The work was very hard and provided me with one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. The trip was organized very well and brought us into contact with many wonderful people in New Orleans. I highly recommend Volunteer Expeditions to anyone interested in a service project.
In 2010 my daughter and I looked around for a "vacation" that would combine visiting a "new" place and being of service to that community, and we had the great good luck of finding Patti Vile and Volunteer Expeditions. Several years after Katrina, the city was showing both heart and heart-rending conditions. We worked with homeless families, at food depositories, and expanding schools; visited churches, helped rehab community centers, and learned much more about the different aspects of the city through morning speakers that Patti arranged for us...from civil servants to Pulitzer-prize winning journalists, a Moishe House representative, and several others ... The thought that Patti put into our trip, complete with histories and pertinent articles, with information to enlighten us along the day - PLUS the wonderful community meals we were invited to, not to mention the restaurants and music and bowling fun we had access to in the evening - made the trip quite a moving one. It helped open our eyes to the needs that we can help fill, as well as familiarizing us first hand with a culture that is as resilient as it is rich. Kudos to Volunteer Expeditions!
My time was spent with a key member of Volunteer Expeditions. This organization wants to contribute to meaningful service projects that are needed while still having each volunteer understand community needs and be forever changed by their experience. I'm proud and excited to work with the staff of Volunteer Expeditions.
I have worked with Volunteer Expeditions in New Orleans and have spoken with others who have gone on their programs. They are outstanding in both providing great assistance to those who need it and in giving the participant an outstanding and very meaningful experience.
Eighteen months post-Katrina, I was privileged to be part of Volunteer Expedition's first trip to NOLA. The ability to reach out and embrace a city that was showing such resilience had a profound and long-lasting effect on me. Through the compassion, commitment, and leadership of Patti Vile and Volunteer Expeditions, what began as a simple trip became a vision for change and one of the most powerful experiences of my life. Patti Vile has gone on to create an environment for learning, growing, and building that is my pleasure to recommend to others looking to make a difference. -Gail Glickman, volunteer and educator
Review from Guidestar