Appalachia Help Weeks Program Celebrates 40 Years of Service

Youth and adult volunteers successfully hosted a car wash fundraiser at St. Patrick Church in Chatham, NJ on Saturday, May 16 and raised $1,900 to support the Appalachia Help Weeks Program, which is marking a milestone of 40 years of service. The Appalachia Help Weeks program was established in 1986 in response to a devastating flood in West Virginia. St. Patrick Church Youth Ministry in Chatham, NJ partnered with the Catholic Church of Preston County in West Virginia to facilitate the program which brings youth and adult volunteers to Preston County, West Virginia each summer to work for a week to serve those facing rural poverty and in need of home repairs. Over the years, this partnership shifted from flood relief to basic needs and poverty relief and has grown into one of the largest Appalachia home repair programs in the country. The program has grown exponentially and includes participation from St. Patrick Church in Chatham, NJ, St. Vincent Church in Madison, NJ, Pius X Church in Montville, NJ, St. Elizabeth Academy in Convent Station, NJ, and St. Gerard in Paterson, NJ as well as parishes across four states (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Arizona) who volunteer to serve 180+ families each year.

This July, the Appalachia Help Weeks program will run for 4 consecutive weeks (July 5-August 1) as it marks its 40^th year of service to the community.

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The Appalachia Help Weeks Program is coordinated and run by the nonprofit Certain Place Ministries. For more information, visit https://www.certainplaceministries.org/appalachia