The Shadow
From March 11-18, APEX will be returning to the Alleghany Highlands to observe our culture and work in the community. A group of fifteen Saint Joseph’s University students, some skilled and some not, will be arriving in Clifton Forge, Saturday, March 11 and will start working, Monday, March 13.
At the end of the month of February, ads will start appearing asking for projects that the students might be able to do, along with contact information. If an individual, church, or civic organization has a project (preferably inside) with materials, perhaps the students will be able to get it done.
Some projects the students have completed include, but are not limited to, yard work; scraping and painting (inside and out but no higher than the first floor), small homes, gazebos, and fellowship halls; entryways; powerpoint presentations for churches; trimming/stacking brush; repairing wood fences/ramps; helping to construct a greenhouse; repairing/sanding picnic tables; blowing/bagging leaves in recreation/camping and cemetery areas; painting curbs and steps; deep cleaning sanctuaries especially all wooden areas; digging small/short ditches; preparing rough walls for murals; working on railroad cars; unloading trucks for food pantries; and scrubbing the walls of a sleeper car.
Approximately fourteen years ago Total Action for Progress and SJU’S of Philadelphia decided to work together to bring students from the University to Appalachia to observe the culture and work in the community for the week of their spring break.
During spring break seventeen groups of students pay their own way to different parts of Appalachia to work and get to know the culture. One of the groups will be making their way to Alleghany County, on March 11.
