A group of eight Seattle Works volunteers (pictured below) just returned from New Orleans, where they painted classrooms at a school damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Volunteer Tara blogs: "Although the school got about 10 feet of water damage from Katrina, the even bigger challenge they face now is accommodating new students."

That's because many schools aren't open, as Noelle Smithhart writes in the Seattle Works blog: "Spencer Paschal, Volunteer Coordinator at Katrina Corps tells us: 'Currently, the school system of New Orleans is in shambles. Last academic year, only 22 public schools and 17 charter schools were open, out of a total of 128 total. Students were packed 60-70 per classroom, or put into converted FEMA trailers.'"