As the winds, rains, and flood waters of Helene subsided, most major colleges in the region sent their students home or finished their semester online.

But our students and staff stayed. Not only did we stay, but we also became integral to relief efforts in Black Mountain and the surrounding regions. Here are just a few ways we participated:

• We turned our (brand new, by the way!) structural tent into a distribution center and sent out over 150 generators, hundreds of gallons of gas, and over 2 million pounds of food, water, and supplies into the region in the month of October
• We did over 50 wellness checks for the elderly in the town of Black Mountain
• We hosted over 100 volunteers from individuals and organizations to distribute food, love on first responders, install generators, cut down trees, receive helicopters, participate in rescue efforts in the mountains, and much more
• We connected 3 families with camper/RV donations
• We’ve raised almost $60,000 to purchase gift cards from local small businesses to help them get through the winter after missing their best month of the year
  

We didn’t ask to be disaster relief workers, and our students didn’t come to school for that - but neither did we bat an eye to respond to the need. As students got back to class and work, we took a step back and looked at all that they had done - and realized that our model actually works.

This new way of education that combines a world-class, biblical liberal arts education with apprenticeships in the context of a thriving Christian community actually does produce wise, mature, and productive adults who help communities flourish. Our students became a beacon of hope to our whole region. (Feel free to glance at our social media channels from October on to see: click to see our Instagram or Facebook)

While the college is back in the normal swing of things and students are back in class and at work, the massive effort it took to facilitate relief efforts AND reorganize to finish the fall semester strong forced us to push our Spring launch from January back to April. This means we’ll have almost a four-month delay in bringing in our new cohort, which is 4 months of lost revenue.

Why does this matter?

Because while other colleges received millions of dollars of government subsidies to help cover operational costs and tuition due to the storm, we have maintained our commitment to steer clear of government funds and entanglements while providing transformative, debt-free education.

Pushing our Spring launch window back from January to April will cost us about $145,000, a sacrifice well worth making for the work we have been able to do after Helene.

But this Giving Tuesday, we are asking for your help to get back on track by contributing to help us regain some of this lost revenue. We currently have a $25,000 commitment towards a goal of $145,000, and anything and everything helps us continue to serve our community by providing transformative, debt-free education to wise, mature, and productive adults who live purposeful, fulfilling lives.

Will you help? Click here to give.

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Meet Jordan Schmidt! A C7 student in the midst of his Phase 2: Practicum.

“For my practicum track, I’m learning Ui/Ux Design and Web Design.

The biggest thing I’ve learned at Excel so far is how to not only live with others that have different backgrounds than myself, but how to go the extra mile in loving and serving them. This has especially helped me in leading some of the men as a House Captain.

After Hurricane Helene hit, I worked in the distribution center that we were running out of our tent for the first couple of weeks. I then became a distribution driver, taking loads of supplies to wherever they were needed the most.”

Click here to give.