Take a Break and Make a Difference

 

 

                                                                                                        

"Take a Break and Make a Difference" is an opportunity that allows students to spend not only their winter and spring breaks, but also various weekends and other times during the academic year, learning about others as well as themselves. During these trips, students are immersed in a different environment to provide community service to those in need. As a team, students make a difference in the live of others.

For our application to the spring trip to Camp Sunshine please complete the following TWO applications:

Camp Sunshine

BSU

 

Fall Semester (November 2012)

Maine, Camp Sunshine:  November 9th-12th

 

Camp Sunshine supports children with life threatening illnesses and their families. The camp has the distinction of being the only program in the nation whose mission is to address the impact of a life threatening illness on every member of the immediate family- the ill child, the parents, and the siblings. Since its inception, Camp Sunshine has provided a haven for over 30,000 individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds. 

 

 

 

 

Winter Break Trips (January 2013)

Belize, St. John's Anglican School: January 4th-January 12th, 2013
The Central American country of Belize is a destination where you will work with school children at St. John's Anglican School, participate in physical construction at the school and have the opportunity to partake in cultural activities and excursions.

 

Arizona, André House of Hospitality: January 13th- January 19th, 2013
André House, located in downtown Phoenix, is a house of hospitality that reaches out to those most in need by offering simple services like food, clothing, showers, blankets and shelter. Each day hundreds of people pass through their doors to help or be helped.

 

New York, Youth Service Opportunities Project: January 13th- January 19th, 2013
Spend a week helping people who are experiencing hunger and homelessness in New York City. You will volunteer at different sites each day to see interesting parts of the city and experience some of the diversity of needs and services. Reflection will be conducted by YSOP staff.  Free time is included to visit cultural sites in "The Big Apple".

 

Mississippi Gulf Coast Habitat for Humanity: January 6th- January 12th 2013

Habitat for Humanity's Collegiate Challenge program is an opportunity for students to work in partnership with the local Habitat affiliate, community members and families to help eliminate poverty housing in the area.  You will spend the week building affordable homes for low income families and enjoying the culture of the  region.

 

Spring Break Trips (March 2013)

 

This year the organizations that our office has worked with to plan alternative Spring Break Trips are all Christian faith-based organizations. While we respect the values and the beliefs of the organizations we are working with, our ASB trips are not religious. We have taken the time to speak to each organization and explained that BSU students come from a variety of backgrounds and want the trips to be inclusive for everyone. Therefore, on these trips no student will be required to pray or participate in religious practices if they do not feel comfortable doing so. As you look at the different opportunities for the spring semester, feel free to look at each organization’s website to get a better understanding of their mission and goals.

 

Cincinnati, Ohio: Franciscans for the Poor, March 9-16, 2013

The Franciscans for the Poor provides volunteers the unique opportunity to serve those persons less fortunate in the Franciscan tradition throughout the Greater Cincinnati area. Projects for the week will include serving at different non-profit agencies each day, giving you the opportunity to bond with others and gain insight into the causes and effects of poverty.

 

Guatemala City, Guatemala:  Entremondes, March 9-16, 2013
Immersed in the Guatemalan culture, students and staff will volunteer in one of the poorest regions in the country.  You will interact closely with Guatemalan children and adults who may share stories about their life, the importance of education and role of spirituality. 

 

Haverhill, Massachusetts: L'Arche Irencion, March 10-15, 2013

L'Arche Irencion is a community where people with developmental disabilities and those who assist them live together as family and a sign of hope to the greater community. L'Arche has a mission to create a home where the gifts of people with developmental disabilities are revealed through mutually transforming relationships; to embrace diverse cultures working together to build a more human society; and to foster an environment that is inspired by the core values of relationships, transformation, and hope. Projects for the week will include a variety of home projects during the day and planned activities with the residents during the evenings.

 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Center for Student Missions, March 10-16, 2013

The Center for Student Missions provides an opportunity for students to become part of the solutions for a city – by offering your time, energy and sweat as you support these indigenous community organizations. Projects for the week will include a variety of hands-on volunteer opportunities to ensure that your time in the city is spent supplying substantive help to people in need. You will also spend your afternoons at an afterschool site in Philadelphia.

 

Washington, DC: Hunger and Homelessness, Youth Service Opportunities Project (YSOP), Greek Life March 10-16, 2013
Spend a week helping people who are poor, hungry and homeless in our nation's capital of Washington, DC.  You will volunteer at different sites each day to see interesting parts of the city and experience some of the diversity of need and services. Reflection will be conducted by YSOP staff.  Free time is included to visit national monuments. 

 

 

Spring Semester (April 2013)

 

Maine, Camp Sunshine: April 12th- April 15th 2013
Camp Sunshine supports children with life threatening illnesses and their families. The camp has the distinction of being the only program in the nation whose mission is to address the impact of a life threatening illness on every member of the immediate family- the ill child, the parents, and the siblings. Since its inception, Camp Sunshine has provided a haven for over 30,000 individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds.

 

 

The Community Service Center has a membership with the organization Break Away. Break Away: the Alternative Break Connection, Inc. is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports the development of quality alternative break programs by providing training and information primarily to colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations interested in creating lifelong active citizens through these intensive service-learning programs. For more information, please see their website: http://www.alternativebreaks2012.org/

 

Last Modified: January 25, 2013