Teenagers from around the United States are among the many volunteers who have offered their time and energy for post-Katrina relief efforts in the Gulf Coast states.

Young people have enthusiastically lined up for a variety of volunteer jobs; from building houses for Habitat for Humanity to acting as intake personnel, gathering information to assess the needs of individuals displaced by the hurricane and the subsequent flooding, teenagers are working alongside their adult counterparts to make a difference in the devastated region.

Some teenagers offer to visit housebound individuals still in temporary housing, while others care for animals rescued in the aftermath of the storm. Still others have succeeded in raising thousands of dollars in their local communities for Katrina relief. Many college students, rather than heading for Daytona or Cancun on their spring break, found themselves drawn to the Gulf Coast.

One student remarked that "It's amazing how little some of these people really have. I mean, they've lost everything." She was busy helping an elderly woman fill out an application for assistance. She was due to return to her college at the end of the week - undoubtedly with an altered perspective on the world.

From comforting displaced Gulf Coast residents to cleaning out once-flooded houses to using their computer skills to input data for volunteer agencies, these young people are making a difference - and learning some valuable life lessons in the process.

Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern New Hampshire. She has written numerous articles for local and regional newspapers and for a number of Internet websites, including Tips and Topics. She expresses her opinions periodically on her blog, http://beyondagendas.blogspot.com She may be reached at amfredenburg@yahoo.com