While many of their peers head off to the beaches of Cancun and Florida for colleges' annual spring break, 55 Hamilton students are packing up to do volunteer work in six southern rural areas during Hamilton's break, from March 12-26. The students are participating in Alternative Spring Break, a series of trips geared toward community service.
Alternative Spring Break is intended to increase students' awareness and concern of social issues while generating a life-long interest in community service.
One group of 10 Hamilton students is traveling to Broxton Rocks Nature Preserve in Southeast Georgia. The preserve is owned and protected by the Nature Conservancy and covers 1,500 acres; the students will work on a new portion of land taken over in February by the preserve, digging up and moving plants, cleaning up trash and clearing and maintaining trails.
Groups of Hamilton students will also volunteer in Pipestem, W. Va., where they will do maintenance work in the community; Rural Retreat, Va., working in a community outreach program; Wilmington, N.C, where they will tutor children; build a Habitat for Humanity house in Rocky Mount, N.C.; and work on constructing and clearing trails at the Cumberland Trail in Crossville, Tenn.
Hamilton's Alternative Spring Break program (ASB) is sponsored by the Hamilton Action Volunteer Outreach Coalition, 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 and each year since the number of participants has increased.
