Bedford Citizen: Volunteers from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church lend a hand in West Virginia

This summer’s team worked with two families, one a couple with two young children and another an elderly man who lives alone. Volunteer Helen Pulizzi said she helped replace a beam in the little girl’s bedroom and re-sided part of the house.

The goal of Appalachia Service Project (ASP) is to make needed repairs to homes, at no cost to the owners, and also to form friendships with the people the volunteers meet, and to learn about the local culture. The organization sets up the work, obtains necessary permits, houses volunteers and oversees the project.

Emily Mitchell, a St. Paul’s member, wrote about the goal of the project. “At St. Paul’s we view our high school mission trips not only as outreach but also--and perhaps more importantly--as formational experiences for our young people, laying the groundwork for service to become an integral and regular part of their personal lives. As ASP’s philosophy of service states, ’ASP encourages people to act responsibly in the face of human need and injustice.’”

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