Hurricane Katrina, summer 2007 - New Orleans suffered great tolls.

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help me shorten this please to appr 150 words.

"After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans suffered great tolls. This I knew from the news channels. So, during the summer before junior year high school, my youth group and I went New Orleans to help with the relief. But, since it was already two years after the actual incident, none of us actually was committed to working. Rather, we expected to see the festive streets of New Orleans and busy lights in their football stadium. We thought there would be many tourists and that the city would be smoothly running like it was before the Hurricane.

I NEED HELP! i need to lower the word count to 150. How to cut 14 words?

Good evening.

"During the summer of 2007, my youth group went to New Orleans; since it was already two years after the hurricane, no one actually expected to work . Rather, we expected to see festive streets of New Orleans. We thought there would be many tourists and that the city would be again busy like before.T he streets were vacant; r esidents' homes were heavily water-stained, eroded, and not yet rebuilt. New Orleans was still in a state of despair. Many relief organizations evidently gave up. So, my team worked: gutting homes, repainting, landscaping, and providing food. In the end, this New Orleans trip taught me that there should always be hope. My youth group's efforts to rebuild the city gave hope to those disappointed residents, according one named Ethel, and t his experience compelled me to join other volunteer services."

137 words.