Still Battling Katrina, TSA New Orleans Raise a House
Who We Are
September 14, 2009
FRONT ROW: Cynthia Casler TSO, Doris Coulson TSO, Jo Lyn Fenasci STI, Susan Decan LTSO, Carol Blaine STSO, Arden Hudson TSM, Jenn Giangrosso Program Analyst, Randy Lundsgaard TSM, Earnestine Joseph STSO, Kerry Sauve (former TSA/MSY employee) TSO. BACK ROW: Ray Forestier TSO, Ron Barre Operations Specialist, Frontis Ergle STSO, Winston Duplesis TSO, Sal Bertolino STSO
Fifteen employees from TSA New Orleans marked the four-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina by volunteering to help build a home in the city's Upper Ninth Ward. The volunteers worked on a home in Musicians' Village, a Habitat for Humanity project conceived by Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis to help musicians and others who need affordable housing.
"It's always a great feeling to help someone and it's even better when you're giving something of yourself to someone you'll never meet," said STSO Sal Bertolino. "The fact that it was an opportunity for TSA to be seen as people who care was, as we say in New Orleans, 'lagniappe.'" (A gift.)
STSO Carol Blaine said, "As groups of people come through the airport on their way home from doing this sort of volunteer work, I make a point to thank them and let them know it's because of people like them that New Orleans is on the road to recovery. It was a blessing to me to have the opportunity to volunteer and to be with a great group of TSA personnel."
"These officers have given their time and effort to help rebuild New Orleans and I am proud of them," said Larry Austin, Federal Security Director, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
By Jon Allen
Office of Strategic Communications and Public Affairs
