Alternative Breaks Include Outreach to Urban Youth
Five Alternative Break service experiences will engage Alma College students during their winter break, ranging from building homes to interacting with border immigrants to assisting with disaster cleanup efforts.
Over the past two years, Alma College has ranked among the top three schools in the nation in the percentage of students that participated in these service trips, according to the national service organization Break Away.
This year’s Alternative Breaks are scheduled for Feb. 23 through March 2.
“When students come back to campus after participating in an Alternative Break, they can complete further leadership training and become site leaders,” says Sallie Scheide, assistant director of the Center for Responsible Leadership at Alma College. “This gives them another avenue to continue to do great things that help communities. With each trip, they learn more. It’s pretty amazing.”
Alternative Breaks: February 23-March 2, 2013
• Affordable Housing: Habitat for Humanity, Georgetown, Del.
Students will help construct homes for disadvantaged families.
• Disaster Relief: Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Henryville, Ind.
Students will assist cleanup efforts in an area damaged by a major tornado.
• Immigration and Border Issues: El Paso, Texas, and Nogales, Ariz.
Students will assist with service efforts and interact with immigrants in communities along the U.S.-Mexico border.
• Multicultural Arts and Urban Youth: Milwaukee, Wis.
Organized by Alma College alumna Mary Sugiyama, students will volunteer with a variety of inner-city agencies that assist African-American refugees, Hispanic ESL learners and troubled youth.
• Rural Poverty: Once Upon a Time, Maryville, Tenn.
Students will work with the Cherokee Nation in a rural Appalachia community on trail maintenance and service projects.
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Posted: Sun, February 10th, 2013 at 8:02AM
