Students Gain Experience, Friends in Service Trip

“Haven’t worked or laughed harder than this in years.”

So said one student from Ivy Tech Community College, offering sentiments about the recent Spring Break Service Trip sponsored by Ivy Tech’s Kokomo Region.

The weeklong project took 10 Ivy Tech students, faculty and staff members to Chavies, a residential hamlet in Perry County, Ky. Ivy Tech’s regional newsletter had described the trip as a “chance to get your hands dirty” and a “wonderful service opportunity.” But only those who went on the Appalachian adventure found out just how dirty their hands would get and how many wonderful memories would be made.

The trip was set up with the Appalachian Service Project by Danielle McQuaide, director of Student Life for the Kokomo Region. Ivy Tech volunteers engaged in such activities as installing insulation and underpinning, extracting and replacing windows and constructing a support wall and floor support....

... The full-time employees of ASP provided activities every night at the center for the volunteers. These ranged from viewing a documentary on Appalachia to participating in a meditation/prayer walk.

As much as the volunteers from Ivy Tech and the East Coast groups were changed as they worked and laughed together, it was those in Appalachia whose lives were touched in more than one way.

One group served homeowner Bobby Deaton. The work done that week had both an immediate and lasting impact. In a follow-up conversation, Deaton shared: “It’s lowered my electric bill. … They helped me 110 percent.”

Memories were constructed right along with window frames and relationships were set in place even as insulation was stapled. The Ivy Tech crew and those they served will always remember spring break 2014.