University students to serve domestically during fall break
Fall Recess will see a drop in the number of students remaining on Waynesburg University’s campus, but that does not mean that students won’t be living up to the university’s mission of faith, learning and service.
Instead of going home for the week, many students will spend time on mission trips. Assistant Dean of Students, Kelly Hardie, is the coordinator for those who wanted to spend their break serving others.
Three main trips are planned for the recess: Habitat for Humanity, Greene County Immersion and Gettysburg National Military Park restoration.
The Gettysburg trip was proposed by Rea Redd, director of the Eberly Library, after speaking with Kelly Hardie about a possible mission trip idea he had.
“All service trips are proposed by faculty and staff who have an idea for a service trip,” said Hardie. “The process starts about a year before a trip can actually take place in order for the idea to be examined for feasibility.”
Once that process is complete, students are notified of the mission trip opportunity.
The 23 students going on the Gettysburg trip will be volunteering at the national park in restoring the battlefield and giving Civil War tours.
In addition, they will also make a stop at the Daniel Lady Farm, a site that acted as a hospital during the Gettysburg battle, to help with restoration efforts there.
Participants will also be making a stop at the Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg to attend a worship service and get a tour of the facilities.
Sophomore Nick Cordova, a political science and history major, is one of the students going on the trip.
“I decided to go to Gettysburg so that I could learn more about the history of the battle while also giving back to the community,” said Cordova. “This will be my first mission trip, and although I have some experience working with wood, my goal is to learn how to build a fence as it would have looked back in 1863 when the battle took place.”
Other students will be conducting mission work a lot closer to the university here in Greene County, as some students will serve with Greene County Habitat for Humanity while others have chosen to help out in the Greene County Immersion activities.
10 students will be participating in the Habitat trip led by Adrienne Tharp and co-led by Zachary Payne, a junior accounting major. The group will assist at different Habitat for Humanity sites around the county, wherever the need exists.
Junior marketing major John Wicker decided that out of the various options available for service trips, working with Habitat was the best all-around trip for him.
“I decided to choose Habitat for Humanity because it would be a relatively simple yet effective way for me to get involved in service and learn practical skills that can be used later down the road in different capacities,” said Wicker.
Wicker said he also hopes to learn more about home construction skills and the organization as a whole, as his current experience in building is limited to drywall and building a treehouse with his father while growing up.
He also felt this would be a great, humbling experience to directly serve the residents who most need help in Greene County.
The Greene County Immersion group, with a total of 12 people, will be assisting ten different non-profit organizations throughout the county including the Humane Society, the Corner Cupboard Food Bank, the Salvation Army and the County Historical Society. Co-leading the trip will be senior business major Pedro Torrez.
Hardie, the trip leader, acknowledged that it will be a different experience for the Immersion group given they are hopping around to different organizations over their week of work, but there is a purpose behind it.
“The goal is to expose students to different local community service opportunities so they can connect, show interest in and potentially continue to serve these organizations,” said Hardie.
Regardless of which trip students are embarking on, Hardie is pleased with the number of people and the make up of the fall break mission group.
“We have such a diverse group this year, and its great to see how many people are showing passion for the trip he or she is going on,” said Hardie.
Those who are interested in serving on future mission trips should reach out to Hardie or look on the service tab on myConnect to find out more details on future trips.