Austintown group builds house for Lousiana family

The organization has a trip planned to South Dakota.
AUSTINTOWN -- A township woman and the organization she founded gave a Christmas and Valentine's Day present to a family from hurricane-stricken Jean Lafitte, La.
Kathy Price and her Mission of Love Foundation built a house for a Jean Lafitte family during a February trip.
In four days, the construction of the house was completed. The house was built above sea level so that it will be less likely to face water damage if there is another hurricane, Price said.
Mission of Love is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that provides aid to those in need worldwide. All supplies for the house were entirely from donations. Mission of Love does not receive any type of funding or grants, Price added.
Another home also was repaired on the February trip so the Louisiana family would no longer have to live in their small Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer.
Twenty-one volunteers went to Jean Lafitte with 35,000 pounds of building materials, Price said.
Missions of Love also took two canoes to Jean Lafitte made by students at Perseus House in Erie, Pa.
Jean Lafitte's mayor, Tim Kerner, wrote a letter to Price saying that Mission of Love provided the means for rebuilding the family's home.
"How many are like this?" Price asked, pointing to a picture of flooded Jean Lafitte. "And nothing's being done."
Kerner also wrote that he would appreciate Mission of Love's continuing its work in Jean Lafitte.
"Nobody else is down there doing what we're doing," Price said. "We, as private citizens, can make a difference."
Feeding their souls
Price challenges everyone to make a difference to people in need along the Gulf Coast before the hurricanes come again this year.
She added that others need to get out of their comfort zone and donate their time. She said the volunteer activity "feeds the soul."
There are many towns that need help and other organizations that can take on a community, just like Mission of Love, Price said.
"Now is the time to help the citizens of the United States," she added.
In September 2005, Price and other volunteers took supplies to a police station at a Wal-Mart in New Orleans. These were the first supplies that police unit had received.
Other supplies were taken to Jean Lafitte, two hours south of New Orleans. When Mission of Love arrived, townspeople from Jean Lafitte told the volunteers that they thought they had been forgotten. Price was amazed that an Ohio organization was the first to reach these people.
Price returned in December at the request of the mayor with money for holiday food.
Another trip is to Jean Lafitte is planned for May. Price hopes to build two homes and repair others. In June, Price is taking volunteers to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to build a home for orphans.