Alternative spring break teams help in Helene recovery
APPLES Service-Learning students traveled to the mountains and Charlotte to work on rebuilding and other projects.
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Along with many fellow Carolina students, Jillian Joyce and Anna Routh spent their spring break soaking in the sun’s rays. But instead of splashing waves and setting up beach chairs, they were unearthing bricks and pushing wheelbarrows.
“It feels good to be here and representing UNC,” said Routh, a junior public policy and history major. “The work we’re doing is so important, and I feel like I’m really able to contribute to something valuable while on break.”
Routh helped lead a group of 11 classmates to clean up debris from flooding caused by Hurricane Helene in the town of Marshall, about 20 miles north of Asheville. Their work is part of the APPLES Service-Learning Alternative Spring Break, an annual program offered through Carolina’s Center for Public Service that’s designed to connect academic learning and public service.
“There’s not many opportunities where you can go somewhere and be able to help a community out,” said Suchi Kona, a first-year biology major. “And not only are we helping — the community is also helping us learn, and it’s such a rewarding experience.”
The APPLES Service-Learning Alternative Spring Break program is designed to connected academic learning and public service. (Rob Holliday/UNC-Chapel Hill)
With the French Broad River once again flowing at normal levels behind them, a group of six students dug through a pile of dirt, rocks and other items left in Helene’s wake with an eye toward rebuilding.
“We’re taking all of the bricks that are still whole so they can rebuild the wall and the buildings that were torn down by the storm,” said Jillian Joyce, a junior environmental science major and trip co-leader. “Seeing other UNC students in our group of 12 — everyone decided to come here. No matter how individualist people can be, it says that people still care about their community and want to get out there and help.”
The work in Marshall was one of several Helene-related projects the students tackled during their week in the mountains. They also spent time volunteering with a group fighting poverty, working at a veterans’ healing farm and helping with Helene recovery in other mountain communities. A separate APPLES Alternative Spring Break team of students completed a week’s worth of service projects in the Charlotte area.
“I think the biggest challenge is knowing that you can only do so much within a week, knowing that we’re going to have to go back to Carolina at the end of this week,” said Raegan Murphy, a sophomore community and global health major. “I think it just reminds us to continue to support the North Carolina community.”
Learn how the UNC-Chapel Hill community has mobilized to support those impacted by the storm.
Mayor Aaron Haynie saw his town endure nine times the level of flooding expected by Hurricane Helene in September. As he and local business and community leaders continue their efforts to get the town of Marshall back up and running, they’re grateful for the legions of volunteers who have made their way to the North Carolina mountains to lend a hand.
“It’s a great thing for the town and to know that we haven’t been forgotten, especially almost going on six months in that people still care,” Haynie said. “We really want to spread the word that Marshall will be open for business again.”
