College Students Skip Spring Break Trips 'to Express God's Love' by Rebuilding Asheville

As rebuilding efforts continue across western North Carolina in communities devastated by Hurricane Helene, college students are ditching their traditional spring break trips to bring hope and help to those in this hurting community.

Cru Campus Ministry and Unto, a global humanitarian organization, have teamed up to send more than 150 volunteers from across the country to dedicate a week in Asheville, North Carolina to help in recovery efforts. 

"[Volunteers] have been working in some of the areas in Western North Carolina that are hard to get to and honestly (we) just needed some strong backs and willing hearts," said Cru Campus Ministry Executive Team member and site supervisor, Holly Allan.

Students have traveled from as far away as New Mexico and Massachusetts to rebuild homes, neighborhoods, and communities. 

"These young students have been getting under homes and putting on Tyvek suits, goggles, and masks and shimmying in these 2 1/2 foot spaces and pulling down wet insulation," Allan told CBN News.  

Allan says the work is a small step in a large project in rebuilding parts of North Carolina. 

As CBN News reported, six months ago Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm and unleashed devastation across western North Carolina after tearing through Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, and then into Virginia and Tennessee as well.

According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, there were 106 verified storm-related deaths.

The smaller communities in Western North Carolina were completely blindsided by the storm. Many residents left with just the clothes on their backs to safely escape. And they returned to just fragments and remnants of the places they used to call home.

Six months later, many are still living in those same conditions, Allan explained.  

"There are homeowners now who are making phone calls six months later asking for help," she said. "They haven't been asking for help. They've waited maybe for [help from] insurance, maybe for help from FEMA, and maybe just from family...but it's a little bit too much for them." 

Some estimates put the economic impact of the storm, including property damage, at $200 billion, and repairs to communities, including infrastructure, could take multiple years to complete, according to Cru. 

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Students have been helping with drywall, subflooring, painting, and insulation, along with outdoor cleanup and landscaping.

"[Crew chiefs] are helping our students wield tools that they've never touched before," Allan said. "Some girls said they're using oscillating saws and sledgehammers and they thought they were coming to pick up sticks, but they have found that there was a lot more work to do." 

Each spring break, Cru provides opportunities for students to serve in areas of the world needing help and hope.  

From disaster relief efforts to providing water filters to villages that do not have access to clean drinking water, Cru students have collectively dedicated hundreds of thousands of hours they could spend on vacation to instead make a difference in the lives of others.

This year leaders with the ministry knew one of the greatest needs was back here at home. 

"In addition to helping to rebuild these communities, Cru students are also spreading the hope and good news of the Gospel message," said Shannon Compere, executive director of Cru's Campus Ministry. "Western North Carolina suffered significant damage during Helene, and we are proud of these students for choosing to give of their time to express God's love." 

"After watching what some of these families have gone through, I realized that if there was a need and I could help, I'd rather share God's love with those struggling than spend my spring break living for myself," said Katherine Borton, who is traveling from Peoria, Illinois with a team from Bradley University.

Allan told CBN News that for many students it is an eye-opening experience.

"I talked to a girl yesterday during dinner and she had been, she found Christmas ornaments and articles from someone's house that was buried in 2 feet of mud as they were cleaning some areas out and I think for her for the first time it hit her just what loss people have experienced," she described. 

Not only is it eye-opening, it is impacting students for eternity, Allan explained. She shared that some of the volunteers traveled to UNC Asheville to share their faith. A student from the University of Florida shared his faith for the first time and a student from UNC Asheville gave his life to Christ. 

The outreach is also having an impact on the homeowners. 

"We are telling these students, 'You are light to them as you do these things for them that they cannot do.'"