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| Classes, students give support
to local shelter |
Jusitn Boulmay
Multicultural Beat
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Shelter Rock, a
local Christian organization, offers an opportunity for Appalachian
State University students to volunteer their time helping those
in poverty.
Daniel M. Rowan, a junior music industry major from Greenville,
said he got involved doing community service at Shelter Rock this
semester.
“All the people here are pretty cool, and what they do is
pretty amazing, actually, about all the people that they help,”
Rowan said.
Shelter Rock was founded last year. Not too long after the organization
started, Appalachian State University students began volunteering
to work with the organization.
Appalachian students involved in programs such as Appalachian
& the Community Together (A.C.T.) began volunteering the spring
after the program was founded, Ian F. Reese said. Reese assisted
his parents in founding Shelter Rock.
Last fall, students enrolled in COM 1100, Foundations of Human
Communications, volunteered as part of their service learning
projects, department of communication assistant professor Norman
E. Clark said.
Rowan said he became involved with Shelter Rock through this course.
“We wanted to try and pick one social issue so students could
do similar projects,” he said.
It was decided that students would work with the elderly, but
due to the large number of students in COM 1100, Shelter Rock
was also chosen as one of the places students could sign up for.
Students were made aware before they signed up that Shelter Rock
was a Christian organization, Clark said.
Shelter Rock originated when Reese’s parents told him they
felt called to start a program that would reach out to the poor.
Reese, who had been considering coming to Appalachian after high
school, accepted their invitation to join them.
“We started in the back of an old pickup truck,” Reese
said. “ We were going out on old log roads [in search of
people to help].”
Months later, a facility resting on 22,000 square feet of land
was donated, Reese said. Located in Foscoe off Highway 105, the
cost of the building is only $1 per month.
The people Shelter Rock serves are sometimes victims of generational
poverty.
“They don’t really like to communicate with anybody,
not even their families,” Reese said. “We just have
the COM 1100 students come in and befriend the people we’re
serving.”
Reese said lasting friendships have formed between students and
the people as a result.
“Everything that anybody ever sees when they come here is
donated,” Reese said. “We rely completely on the Lord
and his provisions.”
Reese also quoted Matthew 10:8 as he explained why he wanted to
help others: “Freely you have been given, freely also give
out to those who need it.”
“Whether it be food or clothing, medical supplies or furniture,
we give it for free,” Reese said. |
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