Our group split into three smaller groups on Saturday that went into some of the communities around Mars Hill affected by Hurricane Helene. One group went to the town of Marshall to plant and spread grass seed at a new housing project. Another group made their way to Celo and helped to resurface a driveway of sand and gravel that had been washed away. The final group journeyed to Burnsville, where they lent a hand to mulch trees, cut briars, and tidy the yard of Ms. Janet, whose place had been affected by floodwater.
We were hosted by Mars Hill Baptist Church, who have converted Sunday school rooms into lodging rooms for groups coming to the area to help with storm cleanup efforts. We ended our time on Saturday by eating pizza and going to a bowling alley/arcade. We want to give our thanks to our chaperones and our church family for supporting our youth on this trip. The photos you’ll see here reflect the hard work and fun the middle schoolers had together; they’d love to tell you all about it!
—Andrew Tonks, Associate Minister of Youth & College
