Thanks to Amelia Gray '12, Julia Noble '13 and Frannie Kielb '13 for providing this report and Nick DeLieto '13 for providing the photographs.

This past March a group of 27 volunteers from Portsmouth Abbey left campus, headed to one of the poorest counties in the United States. Our goal was to improve the basic standard of life for a few families in Welch, West Virginia.  As we drove through the Appalachian Mountains, the surrounding areas became more rural and neglected.  Houses everywhere were run-down, and most lacked basic commodities that we take for granted.  For the next week, we worked on multiple projects to help people achieve a better lifestyle.

Each of the three houses we focused on had many details that needed our attention.  One man had spent this past winter without running water, so one of our teams worked to fix that.  Also, at this house, a small group spent a few days cleaning out the kitchen, creating a more livable environment for the man.  Another house, on which nearly our entire group spent time, belonged to an elderly, bedridden woman. This home required the most work.  We re-sided, then scraped and painted, the whole house.  The basement also needed new insulation and cleaning.  The yard was greatly improved through clean-up and the planting of new shrubs.  The last house we worked on belonged to Joe, a 92-year-old war vet who had lived in the community his whole life.  Joe spent lots of time with our group, and taught us all about the history of the coal mines that surround the area.  At the end of our trip, we threw him a small birthday party.  His house needed scraping and painting, and part of his back wall needed to be replaced.  Along with repairing the wall, we also built Joe a new roof.  A side project that part of our group undertook was to clean out a local learning center, so that a church could make its own improvements.

Overall, we consider this to be one of the best school trips offered at the Abbey. On top of helping a needy community, the entire group got to know each other through long bus rides, the absence of technology, and evenings filled with four-square and card games.  Throughout the trip, we made unexpected friendships and closer bonds with our faculty chaperones.  But it's not just the friendships that made a lasting impression; it's the humbling reminder of how other people in our own country are struggling every day.

2011 ASP Participants

Student Leaders:

Sheamus Standish '11
Chris Weber '11

Ford Bauer '12
Sean Buckley '12
Bitsy Conklin '12
Nick DeLieto '13
Amelia Gray '12
Cynthia Holte '12
Emily Kaufman '12
Frannie Kielb '13
Julia Noble '13
CJ Obijiofor '11
Donovan Reyes '11
Sidharth Sharma '12
Callie Taylor '13
Zack Tipton '13
Joe Yates '13

Chaperones:

Mr. Andrew Brooks
Mr. Clarence Chenoweth
Mr. Serafin DaPonte P'07, '10 
Mr. Paul Jestings
Ms. Corie McDermott
Mrs. Allie Micheletti
Mr. Nick Micheletti
Mrs. Ellen Pagliaro P'10
Ms. Stephanie Petreccia
Ms. Therese Thomas

NOTE:  The 2012 Appalachia Service Project will take place March 9-18, 2012. The group will travel to Kentucky for the first time.  More details will be available in October 2011.