Students dedicate spring break to volunteering in West Virginia

McDowell County, W. Va., isn’t the most popular spring break destination by any measure, but don’t tell that to the 13 McDaniel students, led by senior Jeb Shingler and professor Mona Becker, who grabbed warm clothes, solid shoes and work gloves before heading to this impoverished region of southern Appalachia for their mid-semester R&R.

Shingler, an Environmental Chemistry major from Hagerstown, Md., has made the trip countless times with his Environmental Studies professor Mona Becker. They’ve conducted stream water quality research and continued to forge what has become a robust partnership between the college and the McDowell community.

Hoping to share the experience with McDaniel students while enlisting their help with a long list of projects needed in the community, Shingler applied for and received one of the college’s Griswold-Zepp Awards in Student Volunteerism. The award of $3,000 covered their housing, food, gas and vehicle rental. They stayed at a decommissioned school in dormitories supplied by the School for Life, a non-profit which brings in volunteers in mission work groups and organizes projects.

Students on campus collect everything from prom dresses to toiletries for the people there who struggle for a marginal existence in the town of Gary, hard hit by the boom-bust of the mechanization of coal mining. Here, lack of garbage disposal and waste-water management has resulted in water quality so poor it sometimes must be boiled to be used for cooking, cleaning and drinking. Jobs, food, inhabitable housing are all in meager supply.

Yet, 13 McDaniel students set aside travel brochures to warm, sunny beaches and opted instead for an eight-hour drive to wield hammers, paintbrushes, even pots and pans, to help in as many ways as they could. They helped update “Welcome to Gary” signs, did activities with the kids, held a cookout and dance with the townspeople and worked on renovations for a new daycare for the town.

One group played John Denver’s “Country Road” on repeat while painting the fire escape of a church building — a memory junior Phuc Truong will remember long after the callouses on his hands have softened.  

“I’ve wanted more students from McDaniel to experience what I have since I first started coming here a few years ago,” says Shingler. “So that was my favorite part of this trip — witnessing them discover that there are places in the U.S. that are as impoverished as McDowell and for them to see the impact of the partnership McDaniel now has with McDowell.

“I hope that these students realize that their small acts of kindness, in service and in giving, travel a long distance and help people in need.”

Student volunteers in McDowell, W. Va., (back row, l.-r.) Atticus Rice, Phuc Truong, Will Bower, Frank Kuhl, Jeb Shingler, Sam Hampton, (front row, l.-r.) Rebecca Minch, Maia Hanlon, Vi Lam, Liv Lauer, Jessie Wyatt, Dori Nance and Olivia Todd

There’s no doubt that Shingler’s hopes were fulfilled. Most of the students hadn’t experienced anything close to what they found in the McDowell community, but the proud people there left indelible prints in their hearts and minds just as the students left behind a lavish dollop of McDaniel spirit.

“The best part of the trip for me was working with the local residents of McDowell. There is something special about the individuals who call those hills home,” says Franklin Kuhl, a senior Environmental Policy major from McLean, Va. “I came expecting to find a depressed and impoverished region with little hope, and while poverty is rampant and solutions are not easy, the people living there are some of the nicest, most accepting and welcoming folk I’ve ever met.

“When we think of poverty, we often think of urban areas — however the people of McDowell need just as much support as any other area in need. It seems that because this region of the country is not as visible, the people living there are overlooked and we have forgotten McDowell County and communities like it all across America."

His fellow volunteers echo his thoughts:

• “I got to meet some of the kindest and most giving people on the trip. The people of the School for Life dedicated their lives to serve the region, and we helped by renovating the church,” says Phuc Truong, a junior Chemistry major from San Jose, Calif. “This experience also spoke to my career goal of pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science, focusing on solar energy. This renewable energy source can create new jobs, which will greatly benefit the people of McDowell County.”

• “The trip put some things in perspective,” says Atticus Rice, a sophomore Communication and Political Science double major from Portland, Ore., who does service work in Westminster but appreciated being able to make such an impact in a place like Gary. “Driving through towns without a sewage treatment system or without a store that sells clothes anywhere accessible makes getting a poor grade on a paper seem like such a small problem.”

 • “I wanted to go because I felt like I don’t get to help others as much as I would like to,” says Liv Lauer, a sophomore Psychology major from York, Pa. “I loved completing each project with the new friends I made and being part of something bigger than ourselves. This trip has showed me all of the ‘normal’ things that I have taken for granted in my life like stores, sewers, heating, internet and having two parents.”

• “I discovered how privileged I am compared to those living in McDowell who don’t even have access to such amenities as hot water and internet and yet, they seem perfectly happy with what they have,” says Vi Lam, a senior Biochemistry major from Herndon, Va.

• “My favorite part of the trip was the dinner on Saturday when we got to spend time with kids and get to know them,” says Jessie Wyatt, a freshman Biology and German major from Fairfax, Va. “I decided to spend my spring break this way because I wanted to help people that needed help.”

• “Being able to work on the daycare that they are trying to get started in the town of Gary was the best part of the trip for me,” says Dori Nance, a junior Psychology major from Hagerstown, Md. “We were also able to meet some of the children from the area, which was awesome.”