Eight members of the Washington Service Corps will spend the next three weeks at a New Orleans tent city distributing food and water to thousands of hurricane victims who remain homeless more than four months after Hurricane Katrina. The corps members will help America’s Second Harvest manage its donations warehouse. They also will pack boxes of food and help families get through the food line.

Each member of the Service Corps team has committed to 10 and a half months of community service in return for a modest living allowance and educational scholarship. The Service Corps is administered by the state Employment Security Department, using money provided by the federal AmeriCorps program. “It should be an exciting adventure,” said Scott Carlson, a Service Corps coordinator. “We expect to work long hours, seven days a week for the next 21 days. The needs of the people continue to be very great.”

The team departs for New Orleans on Jan. 9 and returns on Jan. 31.