Oct 7, 2015 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Nearly 40 Waynesburg University students will be giving back to the community during their fall break next week – serving on mission trips around Greene County and in Gettysburg.

University faculty and staff will lead 37 students on three separate immersion trips covering a variety of academic and professional interests. Two of the trips focus on volunteer work in Greene County, while the other is at Gettysburg National Military Park.

Adrienne Tharp, coordinator of the Bonner Scholar Program, will lead a team of eight students to serve Greene County during the students’ fall break. The students will serve from Sunday through Oct. 16.

The students will assist with building homes in the Greene County area to address substandard housing.

“I hope they learn a little bit more about the town that has become their community while they live here,” Tharp said. “And I want them to get to know the owners of the homes and possibly learn a new skill.”

Eight students, led by Kelley Hardie, assistant dean of students, will also serve the Greene County community during their fall break through an immersion service trip. The week will provide students with the opportunity to participate in an assortment of service activities in Greene County and will enhance the service relationships between the students and the local community.

Some organizations that students will be working at include the Humane Society and the Salvation Army.

“This trip will immerse our students into nonprofits in Greene County,” Hardie said. “It will give students a taste of volunteer opportunities in our backyard.”

One special activity the group will be involved in is a photo shoot for the Greene County Humane Society’s Facebook page and adoption program.

“We aim that our students use their gifts, talents and skill sets to serve the area in which they volunteer,” Hardie said. “I hope that students fall in love with a nonprofit they are working at and continue that relationship.”

Twenty-one students will travel to Gettysburg, Pa., Sunday and spend several days partnering with the Gettysburg National Military Park and Daniel Lady Farm, a privately owned Civil War farm museum. This is the first year this trip has been offered to students. Rea Redd, director of the university’s Eberly Library, and Mary Hamilla, assistant director of the Educational Enrichment Program, will co-lead the trip.

While in Gettysburg, students will assist with battlefield restoration and environmental stewardship. Students will have the opportunity to construct a Virginia Worm Rail Fence as well as rebuild stonewalls at both locations.