Alternative Spring Break Ideas
The phrase "alternative spring break" has become a big hit among those ready to help you find an alternative to what's seen as normal spring break (that would be partying hearty at spring break hot spots). Alternative spring breaks often mean volunteering, a very rewarding way to spend your spring break week. So who's doing what where, when, and how?
Students can seek spring break sun and sand while volunteering in Central American conservation and home building projects, MTV is joining forces with United Way's Storm Corps program for spring break options in the Big Easy, and non-profit housebuilder Habitat for Humanity is again seeing a swell of students turning up to pound nails in storm-slammed communities on the US Gulf Coast. You can build your own alternative spring break idea, too, with volunteering options like rebuilding national park trails.
Check out a few spring break ideas for volunteering this year:
MTV Spring Break ASB 2007
MTV has labeled its alternative spring break just that: A(lternative) S(pring) B(reak). Aside from the many resources MTV has listed on its MTV ASB page for philanthropic, volunteer and altogether different spring break ideas, you can find some inspiration for helping out in your own backyard.
MTV partnered successfully with United Way for an inaugural "Storm Corps" collaboration last year to send students to the US's Gulf Coast and the program's rolling south again in 2007 -- check out the project's Storm Corps blog.
Break Away Alternative Spring Break
Break Away is a good resource on your own campus -- if your college has a chapter, you'll have access to a Break Away database of over 350 nonprofit organizations listing volunteer opportunities with details like sample work projects and housing options. Check out an example at ASU (Arizona State University) to learn what Break Away spring break trips are like.
Habitat for Humanity Spring Break Work
Non-profit homebuilder Habitat for Humanity reported last year that an "extremely generous outpouring of support" from students helped make a difference during spring break in storm-torn Gulf Coast states, and it's a place where you can lend a hand this spring, too:
Learn how Habitat for Humanity works
2006: "Habitat for Humanity Sees Spring Break Surge"
Volunteer Vacations With i-to-i
With i-to-i volunteer vacations, you can conserve a lake in Guatemala or build homes for Honduran families over spring break; if you want sun splashed sand, spend time on a Costa Rican beach, working with sea turtles. Through volunteering with a good student travel outfit like i-to-i,where volunteering goes hand-in-hand with travel, you'll see a piece of the planet having to do much of the planning.
Learn more about i-to-i volunteer vacations for college students
Volunteer in America's Wilderness
Feel like giving something back to the wild areas that you love? The American Hiking Society has the dream volunteer trip for you - American Hiking's Volunteer Vacations, where you can rake, shovel, trim, lop, and chop hundreds of trail miles. Trips are far fewer in spring than summer and some trips are already full, but you can also get inspired for hotter months' work down the road.
Learn about volunteering US national parks and forests
Who's Going to Be There?
Last year, spring break volunteering grew by leaps and bounds as alternative spring break ideas caught fire with college students. Sarah-Jane Wilton of STA Travel told About.com's Student Travel: "We are finding that each year, more students are looking beyond the wet t-shirt competitions and beach scene of Cancun, and instead seeking out a different type of experience (and) even volunteering." If that's you, you can likely hook up with a trip even at the last minute. Best of luck and karma!
Source: about.com
