Muhlenberg Students Take Alternative Spring Break Trips
While many students plan trips to warm and exotic locations for Spring Break, three groups at Muhlenberg College will spend the March recess period on trips focused on community service and outreach.Tuesday, March 8, 2005 10:47 AM
While many students plan trips to warm and exotic locations for Spring Break, three groups at Muhlenberg College will spend the March recess period on trips focused on community service and outreach. These three plans for an alternative Spring Break include a mission trip to Juarez, Mexico, an AIDS awareness trip to New York City, as well as a trip to Harrisburg, Pa., planned in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity.
The trip to Juarez, Mexico, led by Muhlenberg student Lauren Reifsnyder ’05, is sponsored through Touch the World Ministries. Students who participate will help to construct a school on a former garbage dumpsite. Reifsnyder, along with members of Muhlenberg’s student-led Christian group SEVEN, will leave in early March to spend a week with this small community of approximately 100 families. In addition to aiding in construction, the group will also spend time interacting with the children for whom they are building the school.
The College’s Office of Religious Life will take 11 students to New York City from March 6-10, to serve with different agencies within New York City including AIDS Housing Network, Lifebeat and Bailey House. This trip, led by Christine Davies ’05, is designed to give students a first-hand experience of the magnitude of the AIDS epidemic and to showcase what is being done for support and prevention by non- profit organizations.
The third trip, scheduled for March 8 - 12, led by Alyssa M. Rabenold ’02, Assistant Director of Admission, involves eight Muhlenberg students who will spend their time in Harrisburg, PA helping build homes through Habitat for Humanity. The group initiated all fundraising efforts and received donations from the college’s Women’s Auxiliary and from student-musician Ryan Kavalsky ’05, who donated proceeds from his recent CD sales. While in Harrisburg the group will stay at a local Church Community Center.
