Colorado State Programs & People

Spring Break With a Twist

Published March 2008

Addressing social issues through service

Spring break, that notorious, annual college tradition when many carefree college students trade late nights with books for late nights of partying, also comes with socially-conscientious choices for more than 100 Colorado State University students.


CSU students spend their break helping rebuild New Orleans following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Special kind of fun

During spring break March 15-23, more than 100 Colorado State students and seven faculty/staff members will be volunteering across the country and around the world as part of the Alternative Break program organized by the Office for Student Leadership, Involvement and Community Engagement.

Learning about diverse cultures

Alternative breaks allow students to spend their break learning about diverse cultures while actively addressing social issues through service.

Whether working with children with life-threatening illnesses, helping rebuild New Orleans, volunteering in a homeless shelter in our nation's capital, or working on environmental conservation efforts in Panama, opportunities abound for students to address pressing social issues while also getting a much needed break from the books.

Fulfilling alternatives

This year's spring trips include:

  • Achiote, Panama - CSU volunteers traveling to Panama will work with a local community center focusing on environmental conservation and ecotourism. The group will experience the culture and customs of Panama while assisting the local organization with construction projects.
  • Catalina, Calif. - In conjunction with Catalina Island Camps, student volunteers will participate in numerous environmental projects including trail building/repair, environmental education projects, and landscaping.
  • Juarez, Mexico - Teaming up with CSU's Office of Women's Programs and Studies, this trip’s focus is on gender issues in the border-city of Juarez. The U.S.-Mexico Solidarity Network is the agency CSU volunteers will work with while in Juarez. They are committed to developing grassroots alliances on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border and organizing to promote dialogue and collective action for social change.

    • A CSU student makes a new friend while enjoying an "alternative" school break.

  • Los Angeles, Calif. - AIDS Project Los Angeles is a non-profit community-based organization that provides vital services to men, women, and children living with HIV and AIDS in Los Angeles County. Volunteers traveling to L.A. will assist with a huge variety of projects including working in the APLA food bank, transcribing research, and assisting with mailings and event planning.
  • New York City, N.Y. - Partnering with the Gay Men's Health Crisis, the first and oldest organization in New York City committed to the fight against AIDS, student volunteers will work as client library assistants and kitchen and pantry assistants and will interact with the diverse GMHC clients in the great city that never sleeps.
  • Kissimmee, Fla. - CSU students traveling to Kissimmee will volunteer with Give Kids the World, an agency that runs an amusement park solely for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. CSU students will work at the amusement park as ride operators, concession stand monitors, fishing derby organizers, and more.
  • Maryville, Tenn. - Participants traveling to Maryville will work with Once Upon a Time, an agency whose mission focuses on the Cherokee Nation and rural Appalachia, and helps preserve the incredibly rich natural environment in this world biosphere. Volunteers at this site will have the opportunity to do trail maintenance, assist in Snowbird Cherokee community, and support the Sequoyah Museum.
  • New Orleans, La. - Student volunteers will help rebuild homes in St. Bernard Parish. As reconstruction continues in New Orleans, St. Bernard Parish is in constant need of volunteers to complete the volume of building projects that they are sponsoring. Volunteers will be doing construction work via the United Way and a local nonprofit called The St. Bernard Project, enjoying the New Orleans culture, and working with other volunteer groups from around the nation.
  • San Juan, Texas - Student volunteers will learn through hands-on experience the issues facing migrant farm workers and about affordable housing in and around San Juan. In a partnership with the AZTECA Community Loan Fund, students will build homes and support a kid's camp.
  • Washington, D.C. - CSU volunteers will work in the nation’s capital providing services to residents of the nation's largest transitional homeless shelter. Located just a few block from the Capitol Building, Community for Creative Non-Violence serves the homeless community of Washington, D.C., with 1,350 beds, food, clothing, and medical help for homeless men, women, and children.