Published: November 2006
When Good Morning America Co-host Robin Roberts viewed the rebuilding efforts in her hometown of Pass Christian, Mississippi, on July 22—10 months after the Gulf Coast city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina—she effused, “I love, love, love, love, love what I’m seeing here,” adding, “It couldn’t have been done without the selfless volunteers.”
Those volunteers were led by Bill Driscoll, Jr., ’05, who in February 2006, after the volunteer organization for which he’d been working closed down its Katrina relief project, created a nonprofit corporation, Persevere Disaster Relief. The organization helps communities hit by catastrophe by allocating volunteers, tools, and project organization to relief plans. He has since been joined by Beca Howard ’06, Jennifer March ’06, and Marianne Langley Tierney ’06, all of whom did volunteer service while at Boston College. Other Boston College graduates serve on the organization’s board of directors.
Persevere, as it’s called, maintains other connections to Boston College through the Presidential Scholars Program and the Emerging Leaders Program, which are among the groups providing volunteers and financial support.
Speaking at the October 19 Alumni Association annual awards ceremony, where he received the 2006 Young Alumnus honor, Driscoll said “It is refreshing to know that BC’s promise to nurture men and women for others is not just a hollow marketing slogan. Time and time again organizations at BC have not only opened up the check book but sent students, alumni, faculty, and staff to aid those affected by Katrina. I have received help, often without even seeking it, from fellow classmates and other alumni in the form of fundraising, recruiting, and assistance related to their various professions. . . . Without the support of the BC community, Persevere would simply not be able to do what we do on a daily basis.”
