Community Service Projects

In addition to our annual river cleanup, we will be doing a Community Service collection for 2 local organizations. We will be supporting the Blessing Box/Food Bank at Restoration House and the In Home Aid program for Seniors with the Swain County Health Department. See more below.

Our base camp for Week of Rivers is located in Swain County, NC. It has always been a beautiful destination for adventurers and each year the number of visitors grows. Part of the charm of the area is its simplicity and the small-town atmosphere. Like any community, it is not without its challenges and resources are limited. The community is fortunate to have paddlers whose day jobs involve helping the community.

Wayne Dickert, Pastor of the Bryson City United Methodist Church, is a former Olympian and longtime instructor with NOC. Restoration House is one of the programs at BCUMC, https://youtu.be/zfiLk0DXKys and they have a 24 hour “Blessing Box” that bridges the gap until someone can visit the food bank. This includes smaller sizes of non-perishable or long shelf life foods and toiletries. Think Mighty Mayo River Trip Food Drive and you’ve got it.

Trish Hipgrave, Nutritionist with the Swain County Health Department, is a former US Wildwater Team member and the much better half of Chris Hipgrave, whom many of you already know. One of the programs the Health Department could use our help with is the In-Home Aid Program for Seniors. There are 22 program enrollees who are able to continue living at home with assistance from the county social workers. They have very limited resources. Thanks to the many CCC members who contributed to this program. Through their generosity, we were able to provide small electric fans, sun block, sun hats and garden seeds and gloves for summer and fall planting.

Our challenge – Make this happen

Guess who is going to head this up? None other than Joe Berry