Patti Calder's eyes welled up with tears as she spoke of the devastation she witnessed in Mississippi, fully nine months after Hurricane Katrina.

"Unless you've been there, you can't know what it's like," Calder told the Federal Way News last week at Weyerhaeuser corporate headquarters in Federal Way.

"Every destroyed building, every ruined foundation, whether it was a house or business, is a story of complete loss for someone," Calder said.

"You can't imagine the scale until you see it for yourself."

Calder and Peggy Gosselin, who retired from Weyerhaeuser in 2000, both live in Federal Way and participated last month in Weyerhaeuser's "Loaned Employee Program," whereby the company pays the continued salary and transportation costs for employees and retirees who offer to volunteer for relief efforts in Mississippi and Louisiana.

The two women roomed and worked together during their time in Mississippi.

"Good thing we were friends before hand, because it's a challenging but vastly rewarding experience," said Calder.

There are nearly 5,000 people employed by Weyerhaeuser at 44 locations in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, as the company manages over 2.4 million acres of timberlands in those three states.

Several of those employees experienced the total loss of their homes and possessions. So Weyerhaeuser initiated the Employee Loan program to help bring Weyerhaeuser colleagues from around the country and Canada to help them rebuild.

The company partnered with the Baptist Builders, a faith-based organization that is the third largest relief organization working in the Gulf States, behind the Red Cross and FEMA.

At an old National Guard armory in Gulfport, Mississippi, Weyerhaeuser set up a compound of their Global Village Shelters that house the volunteers, and the Baptist Builders provide service and technical personnel.

Calder and Gosselin flew from Sea-Tac to Mississippi on April 17. Both went for two weeks and spent their days hanging insulation and making kitchen cabinets.

"I decided before I went that I would not have any expectations, that I would go with a completely open mind, ready to do whatever was asked of me," said Gosselin, a grandmother who worked in the company's corporate support department until her retirement.

"What I witnessed, and the people I encountered, will stay with me for a very long time," explained Gosselin.

Calder nodded vigorously and added, "It was so fulfilling to be able to give of myself, something other than financial support."

So far, 38 folks who call Federal Way home have volunteered for the program. The company also pays for the transportation for spouses if they choose to go.

Between now and the end of 2006, 155 more Weyerhaeuser employees are scheduled to make the trip to the Gulf Coast. Employees and retirees are able to go from anyway from two weeks to two months.