Despite passing familiarity with Common Ground Relief and their mission (due to my friendship with Director and Conservationist-in-Chief Charlotte Clarke) my first experience volunteering for CGR came in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, in the early Fall of 2021. By chance, I had been out of town visiting family out west when Hurricane Ida formed with astonishing speed and struck …

Though it was only 8 a.m., the temperature was rising above 90 degrees as my housemate and I got ready to drive to Bayou Bienvenue for my first marsh planting with Common Ground Relief. Max, my housemate, was an old hand at the plantings, and had been going all season as work from the film industry had slowed. On several …