Georgia Southern University Students to Spend Spring Break Helping Others

March 11, 2010

As Georgia Southern University students head out on spring break next week, not many are planning trips to Honduras.

However, that’s exactly where 10 students will spend a week helping others, on one of the three alternative spring break trips being sponsored by Georgia Southern’s Office of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement. The trips give students the chance to make a difference for others by giving of themselves.

The students, who will leave for Honduras March 13 and return home March 20, will work with children in two orphanages and help build homes for people who live in dilapidated housing. In addition, the students will serve as ambassadors for Georgia Southern University by speaking with local high school students.

“Over the past few years, student interest in alternative spring break trips has grown tremendously. It is inspiring to see how many students want to spend their spring breaks serving others,” said Janna Pennington, service-learning coordinator in the Office of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement.

In addition to those helping in Honduras, more than 30 other Georgia Southern students will volunteer on two service trips in the U.S.

Fifteen students – 13 as participants and two as leaders – will volunteer in Rock Hill, S.C., March 12-17. They will work at A Place for Hope, a resource center for the Blackmon Road Community, one of the poorest communities in South Carolina. The students will also help at the Second Harvest food pantry and at the Emmett Scott Center, which offers after-school programs, camps and outreach programs to youth.

In addition, 18 undergraduate students, one graduate student and one staff member from the Office of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement will depart March 15 to work with three non-profit organizations in Little Rock, Ark.: Habitat for Humanity, the Ronald McDonald House and the Our House homeless shelter. Ten of the students will also attend the IMPACT Conference, regarded as the largest gathering in the country of socially-engaged college students to exchange ideas for promoting social change. The group will return to Statesboro on March 21.

Participating students will be available for media interviews before, during and after the service trips. Photos from the trips can also be provided to media.

Georgia Southern University, a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University, offers 115 degree programs serving 19,000 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelors, masters and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. The University, one of Georgia’s largest, is a top choice of Georgia’s HOPE scholars and is recognized for its student-centered approach to education. Visit: www.georgiasouthern.edu.