Students will be preparing mouth-watering racks of ribs, barbecue chicken, rolls and cookies today to raise funds for their service trip to New Orleans.

All proceeds from the Clem's Wood-fired Barbecue fundraiser hosted by Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, College of Engineering and the Center for Sustainability will go toward a student service trip to New Orleans during spring break, which starts Mar. 6 and goes until Mar. 10.

The trip will focus on helping the New Orleans community and agricultural businesses affected by Hurricane Katrina last fall.

"The main purpose of the trip is to go down to New Orleans and help out the community even if it is in a small way," Jenni James, professor of agricultural economics, said. "We will be cleaning up hurricane damages, and the trip will also give the students a great service experience."

The barbecue fundraiser has already received more than 300 pre-orders, and it is expected that several more students will show up because LionCash will be accepted, Diane Schramm (senior-horticulture) said.

Students have already raised $500 each for the expenses of the trip, but there are still many expenses that need to be covered; hopefully, this fundraiser will generate enough of a response to help with the last of the expenses, James said.

"We want to make sure that we will have enough funds to be able to do the most amount of work while we are down there," Schramm said.

The students will be working on restoring and rebuilding green houses, botanical gardens, and nurseries among other services.

The exact activities and services the students will perform is still unknown because the trip is not working with a large organization, but rather is trying to function on its own to help the agricultural business in the area, Erik Carson (senior-horticulture and turfgrass science) said.

"I think this trip is going to be a great learning experience because I have seen a lot on TV about the damages in the area; but I think it will be completely different in person and will hit harder," Carson said.

The students are also hosting a tool drive during the next week where people can bring used tools that they no longer want to O.W. Houts & Son, 120 N. Buckhout St.

These tools will be used throughout the trip and then donated to the community once the trip is completed, James said.

T-shirts and Penn State gear will also be distributed throughout the trip to the members of the community in New Orleans.

"I think that this is going to be a great experience where we can finally give back to others and everyone involved will benefit," Nathan Niehls (senior-agribusiness management) said. "We are encouraging everyone to come out and help support our cause."