On Friday, March 5, as spring break eve descended on campus, more than 385 Saint Joseph’s students, faculty and staff – the largest group ever to participate in the 17-year history of the Appalachian Experience – departed for 12 service sites in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. After a brief celebration held in the Chapel of St. Joseph-Michael J. Smith, S.J., Memorial that honored seniors who spent all four of their spring breaks serving in communities that dot the vast Appalachian mountain range, the first of the vans pulled out of the Sourin parking lot and headed south.

Francesca Febbraro ’10, a student leader from Brooklyn, New York, is one of the four-year veterans of Project Appalachia. For Febbraro, the immersion in the beautiful but economically depressed region was revealing.

“Just hearing about the economic struggles faced by the people of Appalachia wasn’t enough,” Febbraro says. “I wanted to shatter my own ignorance and open my eyes to the social and economic injustice existing in our country by stepping out of my comfort zone to participate in the trips.”

At some sites, students worked on Habitat for Humanity homes, and at others, collaborated with Volunteers for Communities, an organization that matches college students with regions needing assistance. While it is clear that everyone worked hard restoring homes and buildings in communities from Hazard, Ky., to Almost Heaven, W.V., Matt Fulmer, SJU’s immersion program coordinator, says the trip is about much more than simply working with bricks and mortar.

“The Appalachian Experience is a great way for our students to become deeply rooted in service to others, which is one of the cornerstones of the University’s mission,” says Matt Fulmer, SJU’s immersion programs coordinator. “Once they have first-hand service involvement, students understand the interconnectedness of the human spirit. In a sense, the service trip doesn’t end when they return. Rather, it is the beginning of a life-long journey.”

Febbraro concurs with Fullmer. “My experience throughout this program has strengthened my understanding of the world outside my own,” she says. “The insight gained during the trip is something that can and should be brought back with students and applied to our lives at school and at home, and when we graduate and continue our endeavors in the workplace.”

-- Patricia Allen