The Appalachia Help Weeks Program is seeking youth and adult volunteers from St. Patrick Church in Chatham, NJ as it recognizes its 38th year of service. Minimum age is 16. Teens must be members of St. Patrick Youth Ministry. Adults do not have to be parishioners but must complete safe environment requirements. The 2024 program dates run the weeks of July 7-13, July 14-20, and July 21-27, 2024.
The Appalachia Help Weeks is coordinated and run by the nonprofit Certain Place Ministries. Fred Mercadante, originally from Chatham, NJ, is the president of the non-profit and will be the facilitator of these weeks of service this summer. For more information and to register, visit www.certainplaceministries.org/appalachia
The Appalachia Help Weeks program was established in 1986 in response to a devastating flood in West Virginia. Since then, St. Patrick Church Youth Ministry in Chatham, NJ has partnered with the Catholic Church of Preston County in WV to facilitate the program which brings youth and adult volunteers to Preston County, WV 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. Vincent’s Church in Madison, NJ and Pius X in Montville, NJ as well as parishes across five states (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan, and Ohio) who volunteer to serve 200+ families each year.
