Working Hard in the Big Easy

Family Law Section member Kendra Randall-Jolivet not only coordinated the section’s public service project in New Orleans on April 15, but she participated as well. Section members worked with Parkway Partners to plant long-leaf pine at the base of trees along the city’s Broad Street corridor.

The American Bar Association Section of Family Law joined with Parkway Partners during the section’s Spring Conference in New Orleans April 14 – 17 to contribute to the city’s ongoing revitalization efforts.

Members of the section spent four hours on April 15 planting Bogalusa, or long-leaf pine, at the base of more than 100 trees along the Broad Street corridor. The area, which sits approximately seven feet below sea level, was one of the city’s many areas devastated by the disastrous effects of Hurricane Katrina and the broken levees.

Family Law members chose this project, coordinated by section member Kendra Randall-Jolivet, to replace some of the countless trees during Katrina. Parkway Partners focuses on re-greening New Orleans, and long-leaf pine is crucial in these efforts, as it provides much-needed acid for trees to grow in the New Orleans clay soil, according to Nell Howard, the organization’s master gardener.

Additionally, meeting attendees contributed more than $2,290 to Arise Academy, a Lower Ninth Ward charter school, presenting the funds to the school’s principal Andrew Shahan. Due to a shortage in funding, the school needed to raise $2,200, and the donation from the Section of Family Law exceeded its goal.

Arise Academy has been one of the nation’s lowest performing schools with 100 percent of its students’ families living below the poverty level, typically on incomes of $10,000 a year.

For more information on contributing to these projects, visit Parkway Partners and Arise Academy.