Volunteering positively impacts students
More than 85 students went on Alternative Spring Break.
Published April 3, 2007
Last week, more than 85 students opted to do humanitarian and environmental work rather than relax with friends for their spring break.
Those who participated in Alternative Spring Break traveled to cities across the country, volunteering their time and getting to know new people in the process.
Senior Danielle Nygaard led a group to Denver to build a home for Habitat for Humanity, but when the group arrived, it had to revise its plans.
"It snowed seven inches, so they closed down our build site," Nygaard said, "So we told them we'd be interested in working at the outlet site again."
Nygaard's group spent three days working at a Denver resale shop that provides funds for Habitat for Humanity projects.
"We weren't expecting the cold and snow, so no one had proper gear," said Nygaard.
The group also spent one day doing hands-on work at another Habitat for Humanity build site in Denver that was supervised by AmeriCorps members.
"The coolest part was meeting some of the other people involved in the organization and some of the customers in the store," Nygaard said.
Nygaard's group started their time in Colorado by visiting Colorado Springs, Pike's Peak and the Garden of the Gods.
The group also spent time in Boulder, Colo., but spent most of their free time in the house that was provided for them for the week by the Denver Grace United Methodist Church.
"Mostly we watched movies and hung out and talked and got to know each other," Nygaard said. "(The house) was amazing and more than we could ever have asked for. It had a really homey feeling, and we weren't surrounded by a lot of people we didn't really know. It added to our ability to get to know each other and feel comfortable."
Senior Katrina Ellebracht led a trip to Georgia, where her group worked with a variety of organizations.
Ellebracht said the experience allowed her to learn about her fellow group members.
"It was a little challenging to get to know each other in such a short amount of time and to learn to work together," Ellebracht said. "We had to learn about each other. At times it was challenging, and at times it was a lot of fun."
While preparing for the trip, Ellebracht's group worked with a volunteer organization called Hands On Atlanta, which matched them with seven organizations in Atlanta and one in Cumberland Island, an island off Georgia's coast.
The group spent time working in the Children's Museum of Atlanta and doing trail maintenance in Big Tree Forest and spending time with the elderly.
The group also worked with a group called MedShare International.
"We sorted medical supplies that would have otherwise been thrown away by hospitals," Ellebracht said. "After we sort them, they'll be sent to third-world countries to be used by people in need."
While Ellebracht was in Atlanta, she said her group visited places such as the CNN headquarters and the Coca-Cola headquarters in their free time.
For their final project, they traveled five hours to Cumberland Island, where they cleared barbed wire debris.
"I really liked Cumberland Island," sophomore Jared Wylie said. "I've been to every state, and I've never seen anything like it."
Wylie and his girlfriend, junior Christine Wagner, went together on the Alternative Spring Break trip.
Wagner and Wylie described the group's visit to Covenant Community as "powerful." Wagner describe the community as a "a life stabilization program for alcoholics and drug addicts."
The group cooked dinner and talked to the program's participants.
"I was blown away by how respectful and how positive their outlook on life is," Wylie said. "It seemed to me they were determined to convince people to not go where they had gone because they know how bad it is."
Wagner said it was one of the best experiences she's had.
"A lot of us were in tears, and that was probably the neatest volunteer experience for me," Wagner said.