Alternative Spring Break expands trips
The programs send students to complete community service during Spring Break.
Published Nov. 3, 2006
MU students have more opportunities to trade in bikinis and margaritas to participate in alternative spring breaks, including the Alternative Spring Break program, which has added more trips to this year's program.
ASB first came to MU in part with the University YMCA in 1991, beginning with three trips focused on building and repairs to places like New Orleans.
ASB is under the Office of Community Involvement in the Department of Student life.
This spring break, ASB will offer eight diverse service trips dealing with different areas like animal preservation, medical disease and poverty.
Students participating in ASB 2007 have numerous travel choices, including going to South Padre Island to work with sea turtles, combating urban poverty and HIV/AIDS in New York City and rebuilding houses destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
"This year's Alternative Spring Break should be our best yet," said Laura Gray, leadership educator at the Center for Leadership Development within the Department of Student Life.
The trips are designed to teach volunteers about social and environmental issues through direct service.
"Last year, I led a trip to Jacksonville, Fla., that dealt with urban health issues, and I instantly fell in love with the organization," ASB director Amanda York said.
Other organizations offer alternative spring breaks as well.
The Newman Center sent students to Selma, Ala., and to the U.S.-Mexico border last spring break.
"I wasn't aware of the intensely strict laws governing immigration, or of the terrible working conditions of the factories along the border," senior Jennifer Wideman said. "We met people that have left a mark on us, who have changed us for life."
This year, the Newman Center is sending students to the hurricane-damaged New Orleans area to help out with reconstruction.
"The trip is mostly paid for through fundraising," campus minister Emily Wenzlick said. "If students complete the required number of fundraising hours, they will only have to pay the deposit cost of $60."
The University YMCA also has a program in the works for spring break 2007 called Y-Immersion.
Last year, YMCA offered a trip to Ocean Springs, Miss., in which students rebuilt homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
This year, participants will also travel to Camp Barnabas, a Missouri camp for children with special needs that was featured on ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."
"Some students may still prefer the Cancun-type spring break, but these trips are different in that they give students the opportunity to still have a break while also helping others," said Julie Alexander, director of the University YMCA. All of the YMCA alternative spring breaks as well as the ASB program are drug and alcohol free.
ASB trips usually cost about $200 and involve four days of work and also one day of sightseeing.
The group is putting on a 5 kilometer walk to raise money on Nov. 11. Students wishing to participate in the 2007 ASB trips can pick up an application at A022 Brady.
The deadline is today.