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While many undergraduates head home or to warm locales to rest up after midterms, 66 Hamilton students will drive south to volunteer at nonprofit organizations in six cities during Spring Break, March 15-30. This year marks Hamilton's 15th annual Alternative Spring Break (ASB), an annual volunteer venture which usually consists of six different community service trips to non-profit organizations in the south. Students will be traveling to John's Island, S.C., Golden Pond, Ky., Wilmington, N.C., Thibodaux, La., La Follette, Tenn., and Biloxi, Miss., for volunteer work.

Four trips will take place the first week of break, March 15-22. 

Hands On Gulf Coast, Biloxi, Miss.
Ten Hamilton students will work at Hands On Gulf Coast in Biloxi where they will help with rebuilding, dry walling and planting community gardens. 

Hands On Gulf Coast is a program of the Points of Light Foundation and Hands On Network – a network of nonprofit organizations around the world that inspire volunteers, create leaders and change lives and communities through effective volunteer action. The Hands On approach mobilizes individuals to join together to address community needs, providing camaraderie as well as guidance through creating an impact with service. In partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Mississippi Commission on Volunteer Service, non-profit agencies, and local community members and business partners, Hands On Gulf Coast is supporting the volunteer-driven recovery of the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina and building back a more civically engaged community.

Cumberland Trails, La Follette, Tenn.
Another group of 10 will volunteer at Cumberland Trails in La Follette, Tenn., where they will help build trails and perform maintenance. The Cumberland Trail (CT), a Tennessee State Scenic Hiking Trail, became Tennessee's 53rd state park in 1998. The Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Park contains a core corridor of 300-plus miles of trail beginning in the Cumberland Gap National Park (KY.) and stretching south to Chickamauga Chattanooga National Military Park and Prentice Cooper Wildlife Management Area just outside Chattanooga.

Habitat for Humanity, John's Island, S.C.
Twelve Hamilton students will help build a Habitat for Humanity house on John's Island, S. C. With 30 years in the sea islands of South Carolina, Sea Island Habitat for Humanity has built more than 234 homes. The organization hopes to build 30 more homes in 2008. Sea Island Habitat is the third oldest affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, an ecumenical Christian ministry dedicated to eliminating poverty housing. 

Burgaw Elementary School, Wilmington, N.C.
Ten Hamilton students will work at Burgaw Elementary School near Wilmington, N.C. Through this outreach program, they will help students with homework and participate in after-school activities. 

Urban Service Experience, Utica
Five students will spend the week volunteering through the Urban Service Experience in Utica. They will work at the Thea Bowman House and JCTOD, collecting and making donations to the Refugee Center, and doing an activity at the YWCA for its Y Girls program.

Two trips will take place the second week of break, March 22-29.
 
Land Between the Lakes, Golden Pond, Ky.
Land Between the Lakes is a 170,000-acre national recreation area in Western Kentucky and Tennessee located about 90 miles north of Nashville, Tenn., and just south of Paducah, Ky. Volunteers will help with the maintenance of an 1850s working farm, by doing repairs and building fences. They'll also work to get the facilities up and running for the tourist season. 

Habitat for Humanity, Thibodaux, La.
In Thibodaux, La., students will help build a Habitat for Humanity house. Bayou Area Habitat for Humanity is a volunteer-driven organization. Though the vast majority have no construction experience or building skills, volunteers are involved in most phases of construction. By working side-by-side with the family who will live in the house, volunteers witness the happiness created when a family is able to realize their dream of home ownership. 

Hamilton's ASB program was initially sponsored by the Hamilton Action Volunteer Outreach Coalition (HAVOC), a student-run organization that provides community service in Oneida County. The Alternative Spring Break program was started in 1993 when 20 students traveled to Miami to work on Hurricane Andrew relief with Habitat for Humanity. The following year the number of students doubled; the number of participants has steadily increased and now ASB offers six trips per year. ASB has now evolved into its own student organization with an executive board that runs the program with Hamilton's chaplaincy. The students are housed in churches, camps and refugee centers. Student volunteers pay $125 each to participate in the ASB trips.

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