Twin Cities college students help small town in North Carolina rebuild after Hurricane Helene: "This isn't going to be the end of the story"
Eleven college students from Bethel University in Minnesota ditched their traditional spring break trips to a North Carolina community in crisis.
They traveled to Swannanoa, North Carolina, a small mountain town still recovering from Hurricane Helene.
"There was just so much devastation," Elena Mendoza, a Bethel University sophomore, said.
The western North Carolina community has continued to receive support from people across the country for the past six months, including groups from Bethel University, located in St. Paul, Minnesota.
"This is my first mission trip. I really wanted to go serve and be a part of helping out," Mendoza said.
Mendoza and Joe Franzen were student leaders for the most recent mission, spending their spring break assisting on the ground.
"It's one thing to see those pictures on the news, right? To be there in person and to see those mangled piles of cars, to see those houses that have been flooded out and you can tell are full of mold and other stuff, it adds a whole 'nother dimension to it," Franzen said.
The path to recovery has been long and slow, but at the same time, there has been progress.
"They're in a stage of still clearing out things but also rebuilding," Mendoza said.
Bethel students partnered with the Center for Latinos to provide families with food, toiletries, and other necessities.
They also worked with Habitat for Humanity.
"From clearing out moldy sheds to laying concrete and painting a house," Franzen said.
Friends, family and community members sponsored their trip.
Mendoza's grandmother and her quilting group from church sent them with 50 handmade quilts to give to those most in need.
"I just know that each one of those quilts are so loved," Mendoza said.
What they witnessed in North Carolina was incredible strength.
"That resilience of saying you know what, it was tragic what happened but we're going to stay here we're going to rebuild and we're going to get through this. This isn't going to be the end of the story," Franzen said.
Campus pastor Matt Runion served as an advisor to Mendoza and Franzen. He says giving help and hope can be transformative for young people.
"It's a catalyst for service. It's a catalyst for thinking outside of my own needs and outside of my own world. It's a chance for students to experience what the exhilaration really of putting others first and that's what I love about this," Runion said.
"We're not the headline here. That's not why we're here. There is such immediate need in North Carolina and if you have the opportunity to serve, they still need all the help they can get," Franzen said.
