Jaunted contributing editor Christine Bord has written frequently about Volunteer Travel and today, she tells us about her recent trip with Operation Photo Rescue.
Last weekend, in the dining room of Galveston’s historic Michel Menard House, seven volunteers from Operation Photo Rescue collected photos damaged during Hurricane Ike. After the on-site volunteers meticulously photograph each image, the photos are then uploaded to a worldwide network of image restoration artists (also volunteers) who will do their best to restore them. Once restored, the photos are returned to their owners at no charge.
I was one of those volunteers poring over moldy, torn and blurred pictures that were stuck to glass frames or worse, disintegrating in our hands. As heart-wrenching as it was to hear the survivor stories of those who lost their churches, cars, businesses, even pets in the hurricane, it was worse to watch the remainders of that life disappear as well. ]]>