AWB Virginia Pre-Trip

This winter break I'm traveling to Virginia with Alternative Breaks. We're going to be working with Camp Baker which serves as a respite camp for adults and children who have developmental disabilities. During one of our pre-trip meetings we took a short trip to two different local group homes. Group homes give adults with disabilities independence, while maintaining staff on site at all times to provide a supportive living environment. In Virginia one of my group's main shared goals is to foster personal bonds with the campers. We're also going to be helping with the maintenance of Camp Baker, such as painting. We'll be back next week and I'll let you know how it went!

AWB Mississippi Pre-Trip

After being selected to attend the Mississippi AWB, it was first important to attend the pre-trip meetings. A lot of the time spent at these meetings was getting to know the other members of the group as well as learning about the community that we would be traveling to. Clarksdale, Mississippi the home of the blues and also a struggling educational area would pose a task but also an opportunity to showcase the students who want to help those in need. The best part of this trip looks to be the group dynamic that we have already established and also the amount of community service will we be doing. Personally, I am excited to work in the school since it has always been a dream of mine to teach in some capacity. As it draws nearer to January 2, I am excited to head to Mississippi with the spirited members of RU to provide our support in helping those in need.

Rutgers Baseball Tees Fundraiser

Want to support Alternative Breaks? Buy our designed Rutgers apparel!

Purchase a Rutgers baseball-tee style shirt! Shirts cost only $12. If you would like to order one, please contact rualternativebreaks@gmail.com for more information.

Article about Alternative Breaks

This winter, thousands of college students nationwide will cut their sleigh riding and hot chocolate sipping short to travel around the country and the world on service trips.

About 72,000 students went on "alternative" break trips in 2009, most of them spring break. But of 1,430 winter, spring, summer and weekend alternative breaks, about 140 were during winter break, says Samantha Giacobozzi, programs director for Break Away, an alternative-break resource that represents more than 140 participating colleges.

"Alternative breaks are meant to cultivate "a society of active citizens, of people who make community a life priority," Giacobozzi says. "We see alternative breaks as being a catalyst for pushing students to become activist citizens."

"Alternative breaks can really get a young person into doing this (service) and then when they go back home, they seek out similar experience near campus," says Maureen Curley, president of Campus Compact, a national coalition of more than 1,100 colleges dedicated to community service and civic engagement.

"Episodic volunteering is a way that you can introduce a student to the power of service," she says.

Read More: http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/mind-soul/doing-good/2010-11-29-sharing-alternative-break_N.htm

Ready for Alternative Winter Break Trips?

Hello!

December is an exciting time for Alternative Breaks. We're prepping for our finals, holding our last semester meetings, and getting ready for our 4 Alternative Winter Break trips!

This year, we'll have designated student bloggers and photographers for the trips, so you'll be able to glimpse into the experience on this website.

We're sending our best wishes to the participants going on the following Rutgers alternative break trips:

Mississippi Delta - Home Rehabilitation/Educational achievement gap
New Orleans - Disaster Relief
Virginia - Issues of developmentally disabled adults and children
Florida – Give Kids the World Village

Check back for more updates!

Info Session

November 2nd Busch Campus Center – International Lounge, 9:00pm

Want to meet other Alternative Break participants and site leaders? Come to our information session to get to know more about the upcoming alternative spring breaks!

Applications due Nov. 11th. Apply at alternativebreaks.rutgers.edu!

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Each Web search will generate approximately a $0.01 donation to us. We also have coupons for popular online stores, so check it out. A small portion of your purchase will be donated to us, at no expense to you.

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Upcoming Information Sessions

Want to meet other Alternative Break participants and site leaders? Come to our information sessions to get to know more about the alternative winter and spring breaks!

Winter Break:
October 7, Douglass Campus Center – Douglass Lounge, 9:00pm

Spring Break:
October 20, Douglass Campus Center - Meeting Room A, 7:00pm
October 28, Student Activities Center – Raritan River Lounge, 8:00pm
November 2, Busch Campus Center – International Lounge, 9:00pm
Hope to see you there!

A new year for Rutgers Alternative Breaks!

Welcome to the Rutgers Alternative Breaks blog! We're a growing community service organization at Rutgers University - New Brunswick. We hope this blog will give an insight to the amazing alternative break experience, and hopefully inspire others to serve as well.

We have 7 trips planned for the 2010-2011 school year:

Alternative Winter Break – January 2011 
Mississippi Delta - Home Rehabilitation/Educational achievement gap
New Orleans - Disaster Relief
Virginia - Issues of developmentally disabled adults and children
Florida – Give Kids the World Village

Alternative Spring Break – March 2011 
West Virginia - Southern Appalachian Labor School/Rural Poverty
Maryville, Tennessee - Home Rehabilitation and Cherokee Populations
Camden, NJ/Philadelphia, PA - Home Rehabilitation/Educational achievement gap

Applications are currently available on our main Rutgers website:
http://www.alternativebreaks.rutgers.edu/

Thanks for visiting our blog!