Holy Cross Students Participate in Spring Break Service Programs

WORCESTER, Mass. – Imagine a town of 100. It is, like all other towns, marked by a post office. However, unlike most other towns, this is all that marks it. There is no gas station, no grocery store, no mall. This is a town tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia; an old mining town whose mines have ceased to yield ore. Since the mining company left the area, this is a town where jobs and schools are scarce. This is Ivanhoe, one of the nine towns to which over 100 Holy Cross students will travel this spring break as part of the Appalachia Service Project. An additional 140 students will participate in the Habitat for Humanity Collegiate Challenge; and 10 more students will participate in a newly created Holy Cross service project called WorcesterWorks.

Students participating in the Appalachia Service Project, a program created at Holy Cross almost 30 years ago, will visit nine sites in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. Some students will stay in homeless shelters, while others will sleep in churches or fire stations. During the day, they will assist with housecleaning, yard work, painting, picking up trash along the roads, or helping to prepare meals. The program is being led by Chris Barrett of the Chaplains' Office and two student co-chairs, Kathryn Casey '03 and JJ Mammi '03. Mammi, a resident of Appalachia says "the trip is more of a cultural exchange, than a service project. In the end, we all have a greater awareness of the world." A student-run prayer service for participants will be held at 4:00 p.m., Friday, Feb. 28 in the Rehm Library.

Students participating in the Habitat for Humanity Collegiate Challenge will travel to 12 sites in Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, Virginia, South Carolina and Alabama, where they will help build low-income housing. With a student body of only 2,800, Holy Cross was recognized nationally in 2001 as the college with the most student participants of any college in the country. This year's coordinator, Michael Connelly '03, describes Habitat as "a way for students to get their hands dirty and experience what real community feels like and how it affects real people."

For the first time ever, Holy Cross students will participate in a new spring break program called WorcesterWorks. Created by Chris Barrett of the Chaplains' Office, WorceterWorks is a four-day urban plunge program that combines service work and prayer. The program is dedicated to maintaining the relationships that already exist between Holy Cross and various social service agencies in Worcester. This year's work project will be located at Abby's House, a residential facility for homeless and battered women and children in Worcester. Students will paint at Abby's house during the day and return to campus for dinner and evening prayer.

Holy Cross' spring break begins after classes on Friday, Feb. 28 and runs until Sunday, March 9, 2003.