FL|CC AmeriCorps Alternative Spring Breaks

F L O R I D A C A M P U S C O M P A C T A M E R I C O R P S V I S T A I N I T I A T I V E

What is an Alternative Break (AB)?

Alternative Break trips provide college students opportunities to

engage in service, typically for the week of Spring Break. Trips typi-

cally focus on social issues affecting poverty. AmeriCorps VISTA

members collaborated with non profit organizations and agencies to

coordinate Alternative Spring Break trips for college and university

students all across Florida.

UCF Burnett Honors College VISTA Organizes AB Trip to Vero Beach, FL

FL|CC VISTA Caitlin Poor (first row, right,

black shirt) and nine UCF students spent

their spring break dedicating four days of

service to Pelican Island Wildlife Refuge in

Vero Beach, Florida. The Burnett Honors Col-

lege Office of Research and Civic Engagement

worked with Pelican Island's Kevin Lowry, visi-

tor services manager, to ensure that the trip

had elements of service and learning. Each

day, the students worked with the refuge on a

variety of projects to improve health of the

landscape and enhance the experience for

visitors. Source:

http://honors.ucf.edu/spotlight.aspx

More inside: Ringling College

New College

Florida Southern College

Stetson University

More pictures from the UCF Alternative Spring Break trip

Page 2 FL|CC AmeriCorps Alternative Spring Breaks

Florida Southern VISTA, Rachel Smith, Organizes AB Trip to Southwind

For the Florida Southern College 2013 Alternative Spring

Break trip, two staff members and one student traveled

to Southwind, a Young Life camp in the Ocala National For-

est. They spent three days at the camp helping Southwind

prepare for a large sponsor event that they were having

that weekend. Florida Southern volunteers made over

200 camp beds and assisted with preparation of facili-

ties. During the Alterative Break, volunteers completed a

combined total of 60 hours of service.

From right —Rachel Smith (FLCC VISTA) and

staff member, Janay Bazemore

Volunteers worked on a variety of projects to improve

health of the landscape and enhance the experience for

visitors at the Pelican Island Wildlife Refuge .

Page 3

New College VISTA members, Nicholas and Erica Lindegren Organize Activities in Orlando

Students from New College of Florida participated in a

week-long Alternative Spring Break trip to Orlando, FL. Six

students participated in projects with Clean The World,

Habitat for Humanity, Community Food Outreach, Universi-

ty of Central Florida and Parramore Community Garden

among other projects. Each opportunity presented a

chance to work with local stakeholders and to learn more

about the impacts of these organizations in addressing

critical community needs related to economic opportunity

and food security. Not only were students able to work

with these organizations, but they were able to gain an

inside perspective through meetings and tours with the

staff from each organization.

Left: VISTA Erica Lindegren volunteers for Habitat for Humanity

Above: Volunteers at the Clean the World project

Above: Volunteers at the Clean the World project

Page 4 FL|CC AmeriCorps Alternative Spring Breaks

Ringling College VISTA, Heather Kushner, organizes week long activities for Spring Break

Every year Ringling College of Art and Design

provides a community service project over

Spring Break that gives students the oppor-

tunity to spend their break making a differ-

ence. This year, Ringling College partnered

up with the Orange Blossom Community Gar-

den, a local community garden led by Master

Gardener Gail Harvey, that provides afforda-

ble land plots to Sarasota residents and edu-

cational opportunities for kids from pre-

school to high school. Volunteers converted an old children’s race car bed frame into a

raised garden bed.

Page 5

Stetson University students volunteer in New Orleans and Key West

By Heather Hamilton, AmeriCorps VISTA, Stetson University

Over Spring Break, several students and staff gave their time to participate in the Center for Community Engagement’s Alternative Spring Break program and travel to New

Orleans, Louisiana and Key West, Florida to serve at various organizations. The Alternative Breaks program is relatively new to Stetson University and the Center for Community Engagement and this was the first year that multiple trips took place at one time. The purpose of an Alternative Break is to engage students in a community outside of their own and allow them to be-

come actively involved in a particular social issue. They will learn more about the effects of that social issue on the community and the people involved while they are also working to help

alleviate some of the pressing issues or damages.

While in New Orleans, volunteers had the opportunity to work with a local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) for the first couple of days. The project consisted of rebuilding a fence

that was damaged during Hurricane Isaac. The organization was having trouble with people coming in through the broken fence and stealing items. Within two days, our group was able to

rebuild the fence to make it so people would no longer be able to break in anymore. One student said, “I really enjoyed helping build the fence and being able to talk to the veterans. They had a lot of interesting stories and the fact that they were right there next to us working, one of them at the age of 86, was amazing!” The next couple of days we were able to work at The Gath-

ering, a community center. There were a variety of projects we worked on here, including painting, hanging drywall, electrical work and much more. This center houses many resources for

people in the community, including counseling services, a reception hall, a huge room for inflatable birthday parties, children’s classrooms and even church services. Almost every room in

the center has been reconstructed by volunteers after the hurricanes damaged it years ago, when it was once a bowling alley. “Doing small tasks to help in this one building can benefit so

many people in this community in the long run. For example, If we sweep the parking lot so the inflatable bounce houses and mazes can be set up to be sold, the staff will be able to earn money from them and in return, use that to buy more tools and resources to help more people that are in need in the community. It’s all like a chain reaction,” says freshman, Emmie Wen-

zell. Finally on our last day, we served at a local woman’s house and helped her with some yard work. We also were asked to catch a rooster that was loose in her backyard. After completing

all of the tasks asked of us, we had a chance to speak with the homeowner briefly about what she has been through and how she got to where she is. She began telling us about Hurricane

Katrina and how she was living in the same house when it struck and her oldest daughter was only 6 years old and she was pregnant with her youngest. It flooded her home up to the light

switches and destroyed a lot of their things. When the storm passed, she and her husband began the rebuilding process, because it was their home and they needed to have it ready before

the baby came. She was literally hanging sheet rock while she was pregnant! Moving forward, she began talking about her current situation. Her husband recently up and left her, but before doing so he destroyed the lawnmower and some other items that she can’t afford to get fixed at the moment. She is now left with 2 young daughters to care for and is having to “rebuild the

family for the second time.” Hearing her story put things into perspective for many of the volunteers on the trip. Some other things that were eye-opening were seeing damaged houses in

the Lower 9th and other parts that were hit hard and had the most severe flooding. It was one thing to hear a story about it, but seeing it first-hand made it that much more real!

During our free time in the evening our group would have the opportunity to explore the area around us. We traveled into the city of New Orleans quite a few times and were

able to experience some of the popular attractions. We also had a unique opportunity to go to an Irish Italian Festival Parade! If we weren’t out and about during our free time, we found

something to do back at our housing site. There were several card games, board games, a volleyball net, basketball court and much more that we didn’t even have a chance to get around to.

All in all, this trip was an experience that our group will never forget!

The trip to Key West, FL allowed students to become one with nature. They worked at the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden. Each day they were able to learn more

about the plants they were working with while also helping the center with the work they needed completed. Some tasks they were asked to do included; landscaping, planting, removing

debris and invasive species, building new soil beds, working on building a small fountain and cleaning up paths and walkways. On their last day working each of them were given a small tree

to bring home with them as a reminder of the work that they did and the things they learned. The last day they spent in Key West was a day spent out on and under the water. The group went

to John Pennekamp’s Coral Reef State Park and went snorkeling. They were able to see the beauty of the underwater life up close and personal. After snorkeling they spent the rest of the day exploring that side of Key West before returning to their

campground. Yes, the group did camp for the entire week! The

lodging arrangements were at Boyd’s Campground right beside

of the ocean. It only seemed appropriate for a trip focused on

environment to become one with nature and live on the land that week. Granted, they did have access to facilities, a kitchen, a

pool and the beach. So I suppose it may not have been what

some would call “real camping,” but it was still something they

were able to experience as living outdoors for a week.

All in all, both of the Alternative Spring Break trips

were very successful. The students were excited to go and sad to see the week end. Many of them made new friendships and

learned things about themselves they didn’t know before. The staff members also realized a lot of strengths within themselves that they didn’t know they had before. It was by far an experi-

ence that allowed growth for everyone across the board and developed relationships within the participants that cannot be replaced.

Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXtitIuDBCU to see a great video of the Alternative Spring Break!

Florida Campus Compact—FL|CC

AmeriCorps VISTA Initiative

1801 Miccosukee Commons Dr.

Suite 200

Tallahassee, FL 32308

www.floridacompact.org

VISTAleader@floridacompact.org

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