Portsmouth Abbey Students to Help West Virginian Coalminers, Families during Spring Break
This Saturday, Portsmouth Abbey School students will trade in bathing suits for hammers and nails as they prepare for the annual Appalachia Service Project trip during spring break week in West Virginia.
While most students will spend a week of fun in the sun during spring break, approximately 22 students from the Portsmouth Abbey School will instead head down to the coal-mining town of Welch, WV, this Saturday to help families in need. “We’ve been doing this since about 1992 with a goal to help unfortunate families put a roof on top of their head,” said Clarence Chenoweth, dean of students at the Portsmouth Abbey School. “West Virginia has had a lot of problems, all starting when the coal mining industry started to crumble. Life down there is hard and there are many families down there that don’t even have indoor plumbing.” Getting students excited for this service trip is not a difficult task. “We have many students who are coming for …
