Associate Professor of History Adam Guerin stands (at middle in knit hat) with Cypress Missions volunteers and Eckerd student volunteers on a worksite. Photos by Levi McCollum ’25
March 15–22, during Eckerd College’s spring break, 11 students participated in a tropical storm relief trip to rural Barnardsville, outside of Asheville, North Carolina.
The service project was overseen by Associate Professor of History Adam Guerin, Ph.D., who also serves as interim coordinator for Reflective Service Learning. The trip had been organized in partnership with the nonprofit Cypress Missions and was funded through Eckerd’s RSL program.
“It was a meaningful experience; everyone was forming this community for a week,” Guerin says.
The group traveled more than 10 hours by bus to reach the site, where they participated in recovery efforts for properties in Western North Carolina damaged by Tropical Storm Helene.
Students worked at two locations, a horse farm that provides horseback riding lessons as a form of therapy and the home of a local Vietnam War veteran. Tasks included cleaning out flooded basements, repairing fences and constructing outbuildings.
Levi McCollum ’25, Sean Porter ’28 and Gabby Smith ’25 place support beams on a new structure at a Barnardsville, North Carolina, farm.
“Watching a community of Eckerd students come and spend their spring break helping rebuild this farm was so heartwarming and exciting,” says Gabby Smith, a senior marine science student from Amherst, Ohio.
“I’m really hopeful that more people will join future trips and not only see how much we can benefit from connecting to communities like Asheville’s but also how much fun we all have on these trips.”
Gabby and Levi McCollum, a senior communication student from Matamoras, Pennsylvania, brought previous experience with Cypress Missions. This trip was Gabby’s fourth with the organization and Levi’s second.
“I was honored to see how many Eckerd students were willing to sacrifice their spring break to go to N.C. to essentially do work,” Levi says. “We not only did work but we bonded, laughed and shared memories—showing how so many different people can come together to achieve a final goal. I also hope that in the future more and more people will be interested in service work.”
Gabby’s and Levi’s hopes will soon be realized.
In the beginning of June, through the Eckerd College Community Farm, students will continue the volunteer work by returning to the Asheville area to repair local schools’ farms damaged during the natural disaster.
Nilo Khoury ’25 (left) helps another volunteer restore fencing at a farm devastated by Tropical Storm Helene.
