A group of 14 youths and four adults from Saint Theresa of Avila, a Catholic Church in the greater Boston, Mass., area, have spent the week doing considerable charity work throughout Washington Parish.

The mission group arrived at the Elizabeth Sullivan Memorial United Methodist Church Family Life Center late Sunday, April 15, and got to work the following morning. They helped a flood victim in Franklinton and a couple more in Angie.

That partnership is joined by the Catholic Knights of Columbus, who feed the visitors dinner every night.

“We’re feeding them all Louisiana food,” said Bogalusa City Council member Teddy Drummond, who is also a Knights of Columbus member. “We started with beans and rice.”

Drummond said he and his wife, Judy, made a special visit to welcome the group to Bogalusa.

The missionaries are doing a lot of post-flood work throughout the parish. They were scheduled to return to Boston on Saturday, April 21.

When asked what kind of impression Washington Parish and Louisiana made on the northerners, spokesperson Ellen Klein said Thursday, “We haven’t met the whole parish. We’ve only been here a week. But we had a great time. We love the hospitality. And the people of Bogalusa are very kind and generous.

“The Knights of Columbus of Columbus have been feeding us Louisiana favorites. So far, we’ve had red beans and rice, jambalaya, gumbo, and tonight we’re going to have some kind of crawfish dish.”