AmeriCorps CEO gets a look at a volunteer-heavy project to rebuild Louisiana’s vulnerable coast.

VIOLET, La. — A volunteer project to restore a stretch of Louisiana’s eroding coastline using recycled oyster shells provided a beautiful backdrop Wednesday for a visit from the head of AmeriCorps, the federal agency that deploys volunteers to help communities across the country.

Michael Smith, CEO of AmeriCorps, visited a storage facility in the town of Violet, where he was able to peer into piles of oyster shells, many of which come from Louisiana restaurants. They are being collected and stored by the nonprofit Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, which is using them to build reefs along the fragile coast. The new reefs also provide a new nursery for more oysters.

Smith used the visit not only to boost oyster recycling, but also to emphasize the importance of volunteer efforts in the area, nearly 19 years after Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts.

“It’s so important to be here today because what we see here is that not only did those people make a difference back then, 19 years ago, but they’ve stayed in the community. They’re still involved,” Smith said in a later interview.

According to Smith, it’s not unusual for AmeriCorps volunteers to make long-term commitments to the communities they serve.

As he spoke, an example was playing out in the southwest in the coastal town of Terrebonne Parish, where dead or dying “ghost trees” along the bayous are signs of saltwater intrusion from the Gulf. It’s where Fiona Lightbody, 26, now with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, was part of the ongoing effort to rebuild oyster reefs for the Pointe-aux-Chien tribe.

“By throwing shells back into the water, we are supporting the oystermen and the oyster fisheries that are vital to life down here, and we are helping to create habitat for new oyster growth,” Lightbody said.

Lightbody joined the project as an AmeriCorps member and now coordinates the coalition’s shell recycling program. “It was a dream to stay,” she said. “Most of our staff did AmeriCorps at one point.”

AmeriCorps’ efforts were especially important after Katrina. The agency said 40,000 volunteers collectively provided 10 million hours of service, including running shelters and food banks, clearing homes and managing donations.

Today, Smith said during an interview on Violet, efforts like the oyster reef program show that AmeriCorps is not just a disaster-relief operation. “We’re here for resilience,” he said. “And we’re here for the long haul.”

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Brook reported from Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana.