While many students took the MTV route and spent their spring break stumbling through the sand at such seaside destination as Cancun and Daytona Beach, others donated their time to build houses.
Seventeen USM students and one advisor traveled to Slidell, La., where nearly 85 percent of homes and businesses were destroyed when Hurricane Katrina hit the area in 2005.
In Maine, students from McGill, Purdue, Northwestern Connecticut Community College, and SUNY Oswego have been working with the Portland affiliate of Habitat for Humanity to construct and renovate homes over their own spring breaks.
Habitat for Humanity was founded in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller to provide people with affordable shelter. So far, the nonprofit organization has built over 225,000 houses globally, providing more than one million people with a place to live.
The program’s volunteers build suitable homes for low-income families. The mortgage payments and the sale of the homes go back into Habitat for Humanity to build even more homes.
Globally, Habitat for Humanity is located in more than 90 countries. Additionally, those persons wishing to volunteer are able to in any state in the United States.
What happens now that spring break is over? Do USM students have volunteer opportunities here in their own backyard?
“Absolutely,” says Andrea Thompson-McCall, the director of community service at USM. Alternative Spring Break offered local options for those who couldn’t travel, and her office allows for plenty of other chances throughout the year for students to work on projects here.
Students can get involved with Maine PIRG of find volunteer-work through the office for community service and civic engagement, which Thompson-McCall runs. “Opportunities are available for students who don’t want to leave home or can’t,” she says.