News

A different kind of Spring Break

Students prepare to give up next year's March vacation for a good cause

By Rhiannon Sawtelle

Posted on Sept. 27, 2007, at 12:00 a.m.

Alternative Spring Break, a student led organization on campus, is preparing for yet another year of volunteering around the United States. With a committee of 15 elected officers, ASB is looking for at least 60 more members for their upcoming trip in March.

Every year Alternative Spring Break takes one of the two weeks of spring break to travel around the nation to volunteer. This year the group will travel to six destinations that will not be released until all applications are in. Trips will possibly include things to do with environmental issues, working with children, working with AIDS clinics, working with the elderly and disaster relief.

Applications for the program will be released Thursday morning at 8 a.m. on both the ASB first class folder and at the Bodwell Volunteer Center in the Union. They will be accepted, only in person, starting at 7 a.m. at the Volunteer Center Friday morning. There is a first come, first serve basis for entrance into the program.

Application for ASB is not based on past volunteer work, but only a desire to help. “If they want to give, they want to give. You can’t evaluate people on their past experience,” said coordinator Eric Martin.

One of Alternative Spring Break’s goals is to create an opportunity for community service and an environment in which all personalities can volunteer. “If you can create a spirit of volunteerism, the possibilities are endless,” Martin noted.

Although ASB’s major trip is in March, once a person is accepted into the program, they will begin their work volunteering and bonding with the group they will travel with. Each of the six destinations will have a group of eight to 15 people volunteering there, including a site leader and a faculty or staff member. The groups meet once a week.

ASB also creates volunteer opportunities in the local community. They sponsor at least two service weekends a year, although the number and interest is growing. These service weekend trips are open to both ASB members and other students who are not a part of the group.

ASB took the first service weekend Saturday with a trip to Common Ground Fair in Unity. In the past they have worked with Habitat for Humanity, Keep Maine Warm and the Preble Soup Kitchen in Portland.

Members of the program will also take a retreat in January where they will spend a Friday night at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Old Town doing group building activities. Saturday they will volunteer within the community.

Although ASB is funded in some part, members are asked to contribute $100 to their trip. Other sources of funding come from the student government who typically supply 25 to 40 percent of the funding.

Other sources of income come from fundraising and soliciting businesses.

ASB’s first fundraiser will be a silent auction Oct. 3 in the Coe Room in the Union.

In the past, ASB has volunteered in a New York City AIDS clinic, built trails in Tennessee, rebuilt in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina and participated in many more volunteering activities nation wide.

After each trip, there is a re-orientation that the public is invited to come to. In this meeting, groups present about the trip they took, sharing their experience through power points, pictures, and stories. “You can see the personal achievement of each person,” Martin said.

What people often share is the reaction of the community they helped. “People would open up to you and tell their stories because they trusted you,” said former member Jamie Snow on the people she helped. Several members have noted that people are always very grateful for what the group is doing for them.

“I learned so much about myself and the environment that I was working in,” Snow added.

“The biggest thing about ASB is that people get out just as much as they give. This has been the defining aspect of my college career. It changed not only me, but my path in life,” Martin said.

More information on Alternative Spring Break can be found in their FirstClass folder or at http://www.umaine.edu/volunteer/asb.asp.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 27th, 2007, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.