Baylor University Missions Sends Spring Break Relief Teams to Areas Damaged by Hurricane Harvey

February 9, 2018

Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, 254-710-6275
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WACO, Texas (Feb. 9, 2018) – Teams of Baylor University students, faculty and staff will partner with various community groups and relief efforts over spring break March 4-9 in order to bring hope to communities that were impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Baylor Missions will work to identify needs, serve others and bring relief to the recently devastated and desolate areas in south Texas and along the Texas Gulf coast.

“Helping with Harvey relief efforts during spring break gives students the opportunity to build relationships with homeowners who have lost everything, learn their stories and help to lighten their burdens,” said Holly Tate, assistant director for missions at Baylor University. “It’s an amazing way to truly be the hands and feet of Christ and be a part of the restoration of hope and community. Students get so much more than they can give even in just a couple short days.”

Two teams will be serving in Harvey-related efforts during spring break. One team of 11 students will be going to Rockport, on the Gulf coast, through a partnership with the Texas Hunger Initiative, where they will focus their efforts on food insecurity and disaster relief.

Baylor Missions’ second team, “Make BEAR Creek BeaUtiful Again,” has “adopted” a community outside of Houston called Bear Creek. The group is still looking for participants and the deadline to register has been extended until Feb. 14. The team was created as a response to “Change the World in a Day” through Baylor Chapel and Baylor Missions. Because of gifts from donors, alumni, friends of Baylor and from the sale of Baylor Christmas ornaments, the cost to join the Bear Creek trip is only $100.

“This will be the second time we’ve sent teams to work in the area,” Tate said. There are at least 12 houses in Bear Creek that we will be landscaping for the residents as they move back into their homes in the coming months. We hope our efforts around the neighborhood will increase morale and restore some normalcy to an area truly devastated by the floods following Hurricane Harvey.”

During the fall and winter breaks, nearly 90 Baylor students have volunteered their time and energy to help with debris clearing and home rebuilding at 17 work sites across four different areas around Houston. The community partner with the Bear Creek trip, Penny Moore, spoke at Baylor Chapel on Jan. 24 to bring awareness to students about the continued relief efforts in her community. As a result, students in Chapel raised more than $10,000 toward Harvey-related efforts.

“Many Baylor students, faculty, staff, alumni, their families and neighbors are still feeling the impact of the flooding in South Texas from Hurricane Harvey,” Tate said. “As a University, we have committed to the long-term support of our neighbors, helping when they need us the most – long after their stories have faded from the daily news and volunteers are no longer in abundance.”

For more information and to apply, visit the Baylor Missions website.

by Brooke Battersby, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.