College students can seek alternative spring break sun and sand while volunteering in Central American conservation and home building projects with i-to-i, United Way is sponsoring alternative spring break for volunteers around the US, including on the Gulf Coast, and non-profit housebuilder Habitat for Humanity is again seeing a swell of students turning up to pound nails in storm-slammed Gulf Coast communities. You can build your own alternative spring break ideas, too, like rebuilding national park trails or finding the perfect volunteer match near you. Check out a few alternative spring break ideas for volunteering this year:
United Way Alternative Spring Break 2009
After MTV's inaugural collaboration with United Way's "Storm Corps" collaboration in 2006 to send students to the US's Gulf Coast on an alternative spring break, the program has successfully rolled south each year since and it's encoring in 2009 -- check out the project's Storm Corps blog.United Way also offers an alternative spring break week in Detroit in 2009 -- ASB volunteers will work in conjunction with local partners to help build affordable housing, improve the quality of child care centers, and build ramps in the homes of folks with disabilities. Get the details on how to volunteer on volunteering with United Way for an alternative spring break in 2009:
Break Away Alternative Spring Break
Break Away is a good resource on your own campus -- if your college has a chapter, you'll have access to a Break Away database of over 350 nonprofit organizations listing volunteer opportunities with details like sample work projects and housing options. Check out an example at Michigan State University to learn what Break Away alternative spring break trips are like.Habitat for Humanity Alternative Spring Break Work
Non-profit homebuilder Habitat for Humanity reported last year that an "extremely generous outpouring of support" from students helped make a difference during 2006 in storm-torn Gulf Coast states, and it's a place where you can lend a hand this year, too:- Learn how Habitat for Humanity works
- 2006: "Habitat for Humanity Sees Alternative Spring Break Surge"
Alternative Spring Break Volunteer Vacations With i-to-i
With i-to-i volunteer vacations specifically tailored to an alternative spring break, you can conserve a lake in Guatemala or build homes for Honduran families; if you want sun splashed sand, spend time on a Costa Rican beach, working with sea turtles. Through volunteering with a good student travel outfit like i-to-i,where volunteering goes hand-in-hand with travel, you'll see a piece of the planet without having to do much of the planning.
Volunteer in America's Wilderness
Feel like giving something back to the wild areas that you love? The American Hiking Society has the dream volunteer trip for you -- American Hiking's Volunteer Vacations, where you can rake, shovel, trim, lop, and chop hundreds of trail miles. Trips are far fewer in spring than summer and some trips are already full, but you can also get inspired for hotter months' work down the road.
A List of Volunteer Opportunity Resources for Students
We've compiled a constantly changing master list of volunteering opportunities that can easily work for students over spring break -- check out the volunteer's list (and we haven't volunteered with all of these outfits -- ask around a bit before you send *anyone* any money as a down payment):Find Volunteer Work Matches
Don't see what you need? Try Volunteer Match, a service which allows you to enter your zip and see what kind of volunteer opportunities exist near you. You might also want to check out Lois Friedland's (About's Guide to Adventure Travel) list of voluntourism resources.Who's Going to Be There?
Last year, springtime volunteering grew by leaps and bounds as alternative spring break ideas caught fire with college students. Sarah-Jane Wilton of STA Travel told About.com's Student Travel: "We are finding that each year, more students are looking beyond the wet t-shirt competitions and beach scene of Cancun, and instead seeking out a different type of experience (and) even volunteering." If that's you, you can likely hook up with a trip even at the last minute. Best of luck and karma!
"Through travel I first became aware of the outside world; it was through travel that I found my own introspective way into becoming a part of it." -- Eudora Welty
