At 7 a.m. today about six busloads of more than 400 Kent State students, faculty, staff and community members left Kent and began the 16-hour ride to Biloxi, Miss.

Once there, the “Kent State United for Biloxi” volunteers will help reconstruct homes, medical clinics and childcare facilities, as well as participate in other projects through April 1.

Student affairs reporter Aman Ali and assistant photo editor Gavin Jackson will be accompanying the volunteers as they help residents in the area devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Check back with StaterOnline.com as we provide daily stories, photographs and blogs about the volunteers’ experiences in the hurricane-devastated region. Read a full recap of the journey south and about Aman’s experiences on the way to Mississippi on StaterOnline.com tomorrow.

And when classes resume, read the print edition of the Daily Kent Stater for a complete wrap-up of the trip.

– Ryan Loew