Service Projects

We usually do three full days of service projects during our week in Harlan. See the "Sample Schedule" page. Usual days for service work are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Service Projects include

Mountain Bike Trail Building - The nearby community of Norton, Virginia is building a series of recreational mountain bike trails at Flag Rock State Park. MTB trails are a proven project that many communities in Appalachia are considering or developing as a post-coal-mining economic alternatives. For more information about how MTB trails can literally transform the economy of small Appalachian communities, visit any website about the Virginia Creeper Trail in Damascus, Virginia. For an in-depth article about MTB trails in former mining towns, see essay "Pedaling New Hope in Old Mining Town."

Planting trees on an old strip mine (see video on this page) is a possibility for groups in March. Our volunteers have planted tens of thousands of saplings in Harlan, Pike, Letcher and Perry Counties in Kentucky. Please ask about availability of this project.

Other service work we have done includes painting homes in Harlan, trail maintenance at Wiley's Last Resort, cleaning up illegal dumps, stream litter pickup, listening projects, volunteering at the Benham Thrift Store and the Kentucky Coal Museum, volunteering at the Harlan homeless shelter, elderly home visits, painting and cleaning churches and community centers, flood and tornado relief, helping set up local community fairs and theater events, etc.

These service opportunities vary and some jobs become available on short notice, but we have flexibility built into our schedule so we can take advantage of this.