UNC Asheville Students Volunteer with Hood Huggers on MLK Day

By UNC Asheville

February 16^th, 2023

The Key Center for Community Engaged Learning at UNC Asheville strives to connect students with community partners for service opportunities and service learning.

In conjunction with Asheville Campus Entertainment, a group of students went and volunteered with Hood Huggers International in their Peace Gardens for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.

They helped with tasks such as clearing brush, weeds, and invasive plants; digging and setting fence posts for signage; and hauling mulch.

UNC Asheville Students Volunteer with Hood Huggers on MLK Day

The garden is just one of several projects that Hood Huggers started as part of its mission to “Rebuild Affrilachia,” which refers to African Americans living in and around Asheville.

Harvests from the garden are shared with volunteers and residents of the surrounding neighborhood–which is historically African American–sold at their Friday Farmstand, or used as ingredients for jams, jellies, and salsas, among other things.

“While one-time service events like this may not change the world, they help to strengthen campus-community relationships and allow students to support community priorities, make social connections, explore interests, and broaden their perspectives,” said Kate Johnson, director of the Key Center.

More information about the Key Center and future service opportunities can be found here, and you can learn more about Hood Huggers International here.

Award-Winning Partnership

UNC Asheville's ongoing partnership with Hood Huggers International won the NC Campus Engagement 2023 Community Partner Award. This award recognizes one community partner in the state that has engaged in the development of a sustained, reciprocal partnership with an NC Campus Engagement member institution.