'Berg Students take Alternative Spring Break Trips; College President Randy Helm Accompanies Group to New Orleans
Next week, 57 Muhlenberg students will forgo typical spring break revelry to participate in three service-based “alternative” spring break programs.Friday, March 5, 2010 00:23 PM
Students, along with faculty and staff representatives, will travel to Lebanon, Pa., New Orleans, La. and Israel.
‘Berg President Randy Helm and Dean of Students Karen Green, along with 17 students (chosen from a pool of 50 applicants) will spend next week in New Orleans, working with the St. Bernard Project, one of the area’s most prominent rebuilding organizations. The focus of this trip is on more than building housing; the group will advocate for mental health and psycho-social wellness needs, child care needs and job placement services.
Thirty-two Muhlenberg students will have an international service experience in suthern Israel – the largest alternative spring break group in the six-year history of the College’s alternative spring break program. Working with the Jewish National Fund, students will work with Ethiopian immigrants as they transition to their new environment and will harvest food that will be brought to a soup kitchen. Their trip will end with a weekend in Jerusalem.
The third group will keep their focus local, traveling to Lebanon, Pa., and teaming up with Habitat for Humanity to renovate two homes that were ravaged by fires over a year ago. These eight students will be joined by a group from the University of North Carolina.
All of these trips are meant to transform the students’ world views and to drive home the importance of service – not just one week a year. Since being selected, the students have participated in meetings to prepare for their trips, and will continue to reconvene upon their return, to reflect upon their shared experiences.
