The Red and Black

Issue date: 3/17/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Courtesy Amy Kramer These Univ. students in Charleston, S.C., are among 238 who participated in service projects over spring break. [Click to enlarge]

Though serving 4,500 meals a day may sound like a strenuous task, it was part of a memorable week for some of the 238 University students who participated in Alternative Spring Break, an alcohol and drug-free student-led service project.

Participants traveled to one of 14 cities to volunteer for a certain cause, such as Habitat for Humanity.

In Washington, D.C., participants volunteered in a homeless shelter, Kate Kotsko, a junior from Eureka, Mo., said.

Interacting with the people was an unforgettable experience, Nick Rolader, a junior from Lilburn and site leader for the trip, said.

"We were able to connect to the homeless on a personal level and learn their individual stories rather than as an abstract group colored by stereotypes," Rolader said. "Many of them were well-educated and hard-working and had just been rendered homeless by an unfortunate, uncontrollable accident."

In Charleston, S.C., participants visited children's shelters, Ashley Bozarth, a sophomore from Atlanta, said.

"You could see what we did affected them," Bozarth said. "Even though they came from such troubled environments, they could still be normal kids, and the little things we did in one day had a positive effect on them."

Learning more about a trip's focus was important, Katuschka Rakovec, a sophomore from Mobile, Ala., and the site leader for the Mobile, Ala., trip, said. The participants did household work for people affected by HIV/AIDS.

Abby Howe, a junior from Atlanta, said meeting members of the community was her favorite part of the trip.

"There's such a negative stigma around HIV/AIDS and people have to live with that," Rakovec said.

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