Students Opt for Different Type of Spring Break Helping Others

Quick Facts

The community-service program, coordinated by the Center for Career and Civic Engagement, places students in communities to engage in service and experiential learning during spring break.

Trip participants will present their service projects and takeaways from their experiences on Tuesday, March 27, at 11 a.m. in 114 DiGiorgio Campus Center.

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Thirty-three Winthrop University students and five staff members will participate in Alternative Spring Break March 10-17 during the university’s scheduled week-long spring break.

The community-service program, coordinated by the Center for Career and Civic Engagement, places students in communities to engage in service and experiential learning during spring break. Students perform short-term projects for community agencies and learn about issues such as literacy, poverty, racism, hunger, homelessness and the environment.

The objectives of an spring break program are to involve students in community-based service projects and to give students opportunities to learn about the problems faced by members of communities with whom they otherwise may have had little or no direct contact.

Students were able to choose from three service options this year. They are:

* New Orleans, La.: New Orleans is a city still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf oil spill. The focus of this community service experience is urban renewal and environmental cleanup. Thirteen students are working with HandsOn New Orleans, an organization that transforms communities through volunteer service and leadership development.

* Pittsburgh, Pa.: Ten students will work with the Pittsburgh Project, an organization focused on rebuilding the North Side of Pittsburgh. Service will focus on serving the city’s elderly, poor, shut-in, widowed, and disabled by addressing home repair needs. Projects usually include painting, dry walling and carpentry to emphasize the project's community development and urban poverty themes.

* St. Augustine, Fla.: Ten students will work at St. Francis House, an organization that provides shelter, food and resources to the area’s hungry and homeless population. Projects will include working in the soup kitchen, food pantry, emergency shelter and with St. Francis support services. The focus of the trip is poverty and hunger.

Trip participants will present their service projects and takeaways from their experiences on Tuesday, March 27, at 11 a.m. in 114 DiGiorgio Campus Center.

For more information about the program, please contact Patricia Riley, AmericorpsVISTA for volunteer and community service, at 803/323-2141 or e-mail rileyp@winthrop.edu.

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