EAST LANSING, Mich. — From volunteering to upgrade the Cumberland Trail, a 300-mile-long state park in Tennessee, to feeding wildlife in the Florida Everglades, Michigan State University students will be assisting communities with environmental, cultural and social projects during spring break.
Alternative Spring Break, a registered student organization at MSU, will send 288 participants to 24 communities across North and Central America from March 1 to March 8. Through the Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement at MSU, the organization provides unique living and working experiences and allows students to learn about the areas where they are volunteering.
“The need for people to volunteer is really crucial,” said Judie Stork, of Livonia, an international relations senior and ASB co-chairperson. “We can become good mentors for those younger and older than us by volunteering.”
Programs span the Western Hemisphere and are offered in Honduras, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Mexico, North Carolina, New York, Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida, South Dakota, Louisiana, California, Missouri, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Georgia. Each of the 24 ASB trip groups have nine student participants, two student site leaders and one faculty, staff or graduate student adviser.
A new ASB program in Miami offers an opportunity for students to work with the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian relief group that provides support and assistance for refugees and migrant workers.
“I’m looking forward to speaking Spanish and encountering an environment I don’t see here very often,” said Stork, who created the Miami program.
The volunteers will stay in a hostel for the week and assist Hands On Miami, a volunteer organization for the elderly, disadvantaged and homeless.
“Everyone has a heart for the cause, and we’re ready to start working,” said Amanda Sharp, of North Street, a family community services senior and co-site leader for the Miami program.
Other new MSU programs this year include restoring hurricane-damaged property in Biloxi, Miss., and New Orleans and addressing health concerns in Chicago.
When ASB was started in 1991, participants traveled to New Orleans for hurricane relief. Since 2006, ASB volunteers have traveled to the southeastern United States to help restore the area that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. This year, 48 participants will travel to New Orleans to maintain affordable housing and restore homes for Rebuilding Together, a national nonprofit network. One group of 12 participants in New Orleans also will work with an HIV/AIDS agency.
“MSU’s ASB service projects focus on the connection between service and education,” said Kevin Schwemmin, who directs the program. “Student volunteers return from their service experiences with a greater understanding of the obstacles people in their country and elsewhere face. Our students are, and hopefully will continue to be, engaged in finding solutions.”
For more information, visit www.asb.msu.edu.
###
Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 17 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.