Washington, DC - More than 18 months after Hurricane Katrina struck, the Gulf Coast is a major destination for students on their spring breaks. During this respite from classes, an estimated 20,000 students will trade vacations for volunteering, with thousands expected to participate in a host of projects run by organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and the Atlanta-based Hands On Network.

Over the past decade, the “alternative spring break” movement—through which students perform community service projects during their vacation time—has taken off. Each year, thousands of students, mostly from colleges, but some high school students as well, build houses for low-income families, care for AIDS patients and tutor inner-city children. The ongoing need for assistance in the rebuilding effort following Hurricane Katrina, has added a new urgency and interest to the movement.

“Students, and their schools, are showing more interest than ever in alternative spring breaks,” said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America. “Many students experienced the importance of service during last year’s spring break season, and once they got a taste of it, the interest and commitment took off.”

As Emma O’Brien, an AmeriCorps NCCC member based in Sacramento, Calif., noted, “People really wanted to come down and see for themselves the difference they can make.” O’Brien and hundreds of other AmeriCorps members are in the Gulf states, leading teams of students as they assist with the area’s recovery.

For its part, the Corporation for National and Community Service has sent more than 2,000 college-aged individuals to the disaster area since September as part of its AmeriCorps program. AmeriCorps members serve with a variety of organizations including the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, YouthBuild, conservation corps, and many smaller faith-based and community organizations. Among other activities, they are mucking out damaged homes, clearing debris, restoring parks, putting tarps on roofs, building new homes, and training and supervising volunteers, including college students on spring break.

Jill Piacitelli of Break Away, the Alternative Break Connection, noted that the hurricanes of 2005 prompted many colleges to sponsor alternative spring break trips for the first time last year. Afterward, “we got a lot of calls from people saying that we want to grow that program. Our chapter membership probably grew 15 percent from where it was last year.”

Piacitelli stressed that not all spring break trips are bound for the Gulf states. “Almost all schools, after they have eight or nine domestic trips, add an international trip. It’s the social issues that draw them and they can find them anywhere.” Still, the Gulf Coast is a major draw. “All but two of our 107 members are sending trips there.

The increased number of spring break service trips this year confirms the findings of a study that the Corporation released in October 2006, which shows that college student volunteering surged by 20% between 2002 and 2005. The study, “College Students Helping America,” is available by clicking here.

Organizations sending college students to the Gulf include:

• Break Away, the Alternative Break Connection: More than 12,000 students from 107 colleges are registered with projects through Break Away’s database. In addition to its 107 members, Break Away has identified 200 others that are sponsoring spring break projects. Break Away's mission is to train, assist, and connect campuses and communities in promoting quality alternative break programs that inspire lifelong active citizenship.
      
• Campus Crusade for Christ: The organization’s four-week program will send about 2,000 students to the Gulf States. Projects include clearing debris, working with the local Spanish-speaking population, serving meals at the New Orleans Mission, and addressing devastation in the outlying areas and suburbs of New Orleans.
      
• Community Collaborations International: As its name implies, Community Collaborations International focuses on projects outside the United States, mostly in Latin America. But last year, students wanted to respond to Hurricane Katrina and about 1,000 students participated in CCI projects; a similar number is expected this year. That number includes volunteers from medical schools at Dartmouth and the University of Texas who will be providing support in local clinics.
      
• Habitat for Humanity’s Collegiate Challenge: More than 11,500 students are registered to participate in the Collegiate Challenge this year. They students, who represent 495 high schools and colleges, will serve in 220 communities, most of which are in the Gulf states.
      
• Hands On Network: The organization’s affiliates in New Orleans and Biloxi, Miss., will host more than 1,500 spring break volunteers over the next six weeks who will do everything from roofing and painting to gutting out homes.
      
• Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life: Six interfaith groups are traveling to New Orleans this spring to help rebuild the city as part of Hillel’s second year of relief work in the Gulf. More than 500 students will participate in the “Hillel Builds” program from 34 campuses.
      
• Howard University: More than 500 students, double the number that participated last year, will travel to New Orleans for Journey Back to New Orleans –– Uplifting Our People Through Service. The students, along with faculty and staff, will pick up where they left in the 2006 recovery effort, continuing the university’s legacy of leadership and service to our nation.
      
• Lutheran Disaster Response: The 2007 “What a Relief!” program will send 800 college and university students to projects in the Gulf Coast. Project sites are in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The students will be hanging drywall, painting interior walls, and replacing roof shingles on homes that are being rehabilitated.

In recognition of the growing commitment that colleges and universities are making, the Corporation administers the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. More than 500 colleges applied for the Honor Roll in 2006, its inaugural year.

The Corporation for National and Community Service provides opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country through three programs: Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. Together with the USA Freedom Corps, the Corporation is working to build a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility in America. For more information, visit http://www.nationalservice.gov.

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