Reflection on a Service Trip to Appalachia by Associate Krystine Abberton

“The mountains are calling and I must go.”

John Muir

Spending a week on a mountain in the presence of the ever-growing Big Laurel Community is a privilege that I would hope as many people could experience as possible. Along with several alumni, our own Sister Diane Capuano and current Molloy University students journeyed down to Kermit, West Virginia, for a week full of hikes, wood splitting, pool time, and all-around memory-making with 12 boys ranging in age from 7 to 15 years old.

While the current students spent their morning in activities with the campers, the alumni set out to do some chores around the mountain, not limited to rocking the roads (filling potholes) as well as pulling down and splitting trees to help provide the residents with wood to heat their houses in the winter.

In the afternoons, we all came together to enjoy a neighbor’s pool for some cooling recreation. Then it was back to the web of life for dinner and countless games of Uno until it was time for lights out. Throughout every activity, there was a deep sense of service, connection, and community that only became deeper as the week progressed. By the end of the week, you could no longer tell alumni from students (who have spent 15 years on the mountain) from the first timers.

Sister of Notre Dame Kathy O’Hagen and Sister of St. Joseph Gretchen Shaffer, the women who first answered the call to begin a school for the children of the mountain, are about to start their 50th year serving Big Laurel and its people.

Here’s hoping for many more years of relationship and journeys to Big Laurel.