Project Appalachia: not your average spring break

This past spring break, while many Cabrini students were flying to exotic places such as Cancun, the Bahamas or even just relaxing at home; some traveled to Richwood, W. Va. for Project Appalachia, an alternative to the normal spring break trip.

Agroup made up of 18 students, leaders Matt Grzeskowiak, a junior and education major, and Ashlee Lensmyer an English/communications major and senior, Campus Minister Laura Gorgol and the Director of Athletics Leslie Danehy, ventured out to West Virginia for six days to work in communities of various towns.

Grzeskowiak participated in the trip for the first time last year in 2004 in hopes to meet new people and to have a good time. “This year I attended to accomplish the same goals, but I wanted to make it a priority to get to know the people I was serving. Also, I wanted to learn about the injustices faced by those that live in West Virginia as well as learn about the culture and character of the state and what makes it such a beautiful place to live,” he said.

They worked at a home of a man whose work garage, which he used to repair lawn and garden motors and equipment was destroyed by flood damage the previous year. The large amounts of mud in his garage made it an inadequate place to work. “We helped him shovel out the large amounts of mud and established his garage as a functional place to work,” Grzeskowiak said.

The group also worked in the Richwood Area Community

Hospital. Much of their time there was spent painting patient rooms, hallways and offices. Grzeskowiak said that although painting a hallway or room is a small task the hospital was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and could not afford paint supplies and painters to paint the hospital.

One evening, the mayor of Richwood, Bob Henry Baber, came to the house they were staying at to meet them, thanking them for the work they were doing, and to share his plans to rebuild the city as a town that people want to visit and live in.

“In the evenings we reflected on the day’s work we did, what things we saw in our daily routines and had discussions focusing on spirituality and social justice,” Grzeskowiak said. They also participated in many activities that the locals of Richwood would do including attending Bingo one night and attending a local roller skating rink another.

“I had been on Appalachia before when I was a sophomore and I knew nothing about what I was getting into before I went, and truthfully didn’t really care…I went to meet other people that we were going with. When I got there I was shocked and had a hard time dealing with what I saw and from then on I educated myself because I wanted to know more about why things were the way they were there,” Lensmyer said. She said she wanted to be a leader to inform the other people going on the trip of thingsbefore we got there so then they would be able to have their eyes opened beforehand and see and experience so much more while they were there.“It was great to see everyone in the group learn and get so much out of this trip...and have a great time as well,” Lensmyer said.

Kristen Traina, a freshman graphic design major, was a participant at Project Appalachia. She decided to go because she heard a lot about it around campus and wanted a chance to do hands-on service work. “I feel that it is far better to do work for others rather than to spend a week doing things for yourself. We, as humans, tend to think about ourselves a lot more than others. I feel that this is a perfect opportunity to put everything into perspective,” Traina said.

Grzeskowiak said that while the group completed their tasks, they developed close relationships with the people they were working with as well as a strong bond with each other. “Many people were interested in our stay in Richwood including the chief of staff at the hospital, who hosted a dinner for us as a thank you for the work we were doing, as well as the editors of two local papers who were going to write articles about us in their papers. When discussing our stay with many people often we were told, ‘It’s so good to see young people in our town here to do good.’”

Lensmyer thinks that other should participate in Project Appalachia because, “Not only to have fun, but to help continue a Cabrini tradition that has been going on for so long. Also, to help support the need for people and hard work that we give in West Virginia and to meet the people that we all live and work with each day here at Cabrini.”

For some students, Appalachia was a memorable experience. “I definitely got a lot from going on Appalachia. I will never forget it,” Traina said.