HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – While many students are spending their spring break out of town, a James Madison University ministry group called InterVarsity is staying in Harrisonburg, dedicating its week to serving the community.
Evan Poindexter, one of the leaders at JMU’s InterVarsity ministry, said the service project is called the “Harrisonburg Plunge,” with students saying the experience has brought them closer to the city in a meaningful way.
“I know it’s not like the traditional thing that most college kids want to do, especially because we think, ‘Oh, we go to JMU. We’re in Harrisonburg for most of the year,’ but you see parts of Harrisonburg that you’ve never seen before,” said Evan Poindexter. “You really feel disconnected from the campus. We get outside of our campus bubble.”
Poindexter said that, as Christians, they are called to serve the community and love others, which was the attitude the volunteers had coming into these volunteer opportunities.
“All of us had that mindset coming in and that attitude coming in, but I think we still experience barriers too, and mindsets that are like, ‘oh, like, this isn’t how God sees this community.’ We might struggle to see people as they are made in the image of God, because maybe we just have judgment coming in and stereotypes,” she said. “I think the more and more we are placed into these opportunities, and more and more we see His goodness and how he’s just sovereign over all of this.”
Poindexter said there were 19 students who decided to stay back and help serve this spring break season, serving at many places they had volunteered at before as well as others that were more unfamiliar.
“We were also looking for ones that maybe people didn’t know as well, like Pleasant View, which is a day program for adults with disabilities, and Jubilee Climate Farm, which supplies plots of land to immigrant families and also fresh and local produce to people that normally wouldn’t have access to that,” Poindexter said.
Poindexter said the goal this year was to try helping out in new places around the city.
“We were looking for organizations that serve the people in Harrisonburg, but also serve a diverse group, so people experiencing homelessness, people experiencing food insecurity, refugee families,” she said.
Places served this week:
- Jubilee Climate Farm
- Open Doors
- First Presbyterian soup kitchen
- Hope Distributed
- Pleasant View of Jackson
Jackson Dickler, another leader and organizer of the service project with JMU InterVarsity Ministry, said he was more than happy to stay back and help plan and volunteer this spring break.
“I just felt like this was a really special opportunity. This sort of thing does not come around a whole lot. I feel like there are all sorts of breaks within college to go and to see family and to just go enjoy yourself, Dickler said. ”I was really blessed to ask to lead one, and it’s been super great.”
He said volunteering doesn’t mean you have to go far. Sometimes, there’s plenty to do right around you.
“Within Harrisonburg, there’s so many places and types of people who need help, and, you know, it’s right in our own backyard. You don’t have to go overseas. You don’t have to go even somewhere else in Virginia or in the country,” Dickler said. “Right here in Harrisonburg, there’s so much that can be done, and you can serve so, so many different types of people.”
Dickler said the overall experience has been eye-opening and “inspirational” while also serving as a learning opportunity.
“You’re there to try and serve them, but they end up really serving you as well, and just kind of giving wisdom, giving life advice,” he said. “Even just telling us their story is so inspirational.”
Both Dickler and Poindexter said they hope to continue this service project in the future, not only during spring break but also throughout the school year.
Copyright 2026 WHSV. All rights reserved.
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.