暗网禁区 85 University of Colorado at Boulder students will spend their spring break vacations rebuilding homes ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, doing conservation work on Catalina Island or taking part in one of five other projects around the country.
The students will participate in trips organized by Alternative Breaks, a program of CU-Boulder's Volunteer Resource Center. Volunteers will be traveling in groups of 10 to 15 to locations such as Tennessee to be immersed in the Cherokee community, Cincinnati to work on issues of hunger and homelessness, and San Francisco to create awareness of HIV/ AIDS.
CU-Boulder's spring break begins March 23 and runs through March 27. Students began applying for Alternative Breaks starting in November. Before leaving on their projects, the groups take part in pre-trip training to learn about the issues they will be addressing.
"It is recommended that we have weekly meetings with our participants, getting to know one another, going over the issues, as well as fundraising and making plans for the trip," said Sara Jelley, one of the leaders of this year's trip to San Francisco and a past Alternative Break participant. "It's more of a whole semester commitment, if you count the 're-orientation' process as well."
Jelley took her first Alternative Break trip two years ago to volunteer at a camp in Minnesota called One Heartland, geared toward children who have been or are affected by HIV/AIDS.
"I still remember the five days of that trip more vividly than most of my time at CU," Jelley said. "I really felt that we made a difference for the camp, but most of all I felt that we made a difference in ourselves. From what I hear, all of us are still volunteering in different ways -- some traveling around the world and others just in Boulder."
This year, Jelley and a group of volunteers will drive to San Francisco to work with Project Open Hand preparing and serving food, and the San Francisco AIDS Project on community awareness and activism. They also will be volunteering with Project Inform on HIV issues. Students will stay at the American Youth Hostel in downtown San Francisco.
Another CU-Boulder group will spend a week hiking, camping and working in the deserts around Moab, Utah. Volunteers plan to drive to Moab to work with the nonprofit group Plateau Restoration and Conservation Adventures on trail building, environmental restoration and conservation education. Participants will spend the week camping and working with a former CU professor in Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.
Alternative Breaks provides opportunities for students to learn about the problems faced by members of communities with whom they may otherwise have had little or no direct contact. This immersion in diverse environments enables students to experience, discuss and understand social issues in a significant way, ultimately moving students toward action to make a positive impact in their own communities.
For more information on the Volunteer Resource Center call 303-492-7632 or visit . For more information about the Alternative Breaks program visit /.