Buies Creek, N.C.—Spring Break–that magical phrase that means soaking up the sun at some exotic beach for many students, took on an entirely different meaning for some Campbell University students who participated in two mission trips over their Spring Break holiday.
Team Leader Sara Acosta, AmeriCorps VISTA member in the Office of the Campus Minister, took a group of seven students to Charleston, W. Va., March 7-12, to work with the Union Mission of Charleston, one of several Union Missions across the country. The students sat in on case meetings in the mission’s Family Services office, sorted donations to the mission, and helped assemble 20,000 quarterly mailers, among many other projects.
“Every night we served supper at the men’s mission and cleaned up afterwards,” said Acosta. “Other people might have a different reaction, but to me, it was an honor to be so close to real people living in poverty. It is different being there and experiencing it rather just reading about it.”
Working with Acosta were students Amanda Elzey, of Indian Trail, N.C.; Alta Campbell, of Chadbourn, N.C.; Jessica Beaver of Spencer, N.C.; Cara Glover of Raleigh, N.C.; Courtney Kivett, of Liberty, N.C.; Amber McNeill, of Randleman, N.C.; and Rudy Thomas of Richmond, Va.
During a second mission trip, Team Leader Tyler Ward, a graduate assistant in the Office of the Campus Minister and second-year divinity student, and a group of nine Campbell students worked with the North Carolina Baptist Men at the Red Springs Mission Camp in Red Springs, N.C., March 5-10. Working in a variety of areas, the group helped with minor construction around the mission camp such as building a handicap ramp, repairing the roof of the facility, sorting articles of clothing for the mission’s thrift store, working with Meals on Wheels and Parks and Recreation.
“It was a blessing to help relieve some of the permanent staff who put in such long hours at the mission,” Ward said. “Robeson County is the poorest county in North Carolina with a 30 percent poverty rate. It felt good to be able to do tasks of any kind no matter how great or how small they were.”
Working with Ward were Campbell University students Katie Turner, of Albemarle, N.C.; Cameron Hunt, of Hamlet, N.C.; Ashley Hogan, of Beulaville, N.C.; Emily Beck, of Salisbury, N.C.; Phillip Hardy, of Goldsboro, N.C.; Ashley McCallister, of Advance, N.C.; Wallace Johnson of Wytheville, Va.; Amy Morrison, of Sanford, N.C.; and Beth Godfrey, of Monroe, N.C.
Photo Copy #2: Campbell University students work in the kitchen at Union Mission in Charleston West, Va. Back row, from left, Alta Campbell and Amanda Elzey. Front row, from left, Jessica Beaver, Cara Glover, Rudy Thomas, Amber McNeill and Coutney Kivett. (Photo by Sara Acosta)