New Orleans today is indescribable. One waitress gave us hugs and kisses when she found out we were volunteers. A man two hours north of the city paid our lunch tab. Amid all the devastation, parades still march through the streets. Mardi Gras still goes on. But the city's suicide rate is seven times what it was before Katrina, and three quarters of New Orleans' residents are still living in their "temporary" evacuation communities.

How does one person help a city that needs ten billion dollars a year in federal money over the next decade in order to rebuild? How do you help the poorest people if they cannot even return home? The problem is overwhelming to comprehend, but it is important that we attempt to do so, in order to ensure that New Orleans has a chance to survive. Personally, I hope to return to New Orleans late this year to volunteer again.

To help:

• United Way
• Red Cross
• Union for Reform Judaism