Alternative Spring Break: Making a Difference in Burnsville, NC

During spring break, John McGrath, instructor of marketing,  joined a CofC group that traveled to the rural town of Burnsville, North Carolina, to help rebuild a home devastated by Tropical Storm Helene last year.

The team included 11 College of Charleston students and 4 staff members. The trip, part of the 2025 Alternative Spring Break program sponsored by CofC’s Center for Civic Engagement (CCE), allowed students to participate in the volunteer effort to help clean up one of the areas of the country hardest hit by the storm.  From sunrise to sunset, the students removed mud, built trenches, and helped lay out the vapor barriers on the foundation floor of a home stripped bare to its studs by the flood waters. The work was hard, and the hours were long, but the gratitude of the people of North Carolina was enormous.