Alternative Spring Break seeks volunteers for 2011 trip

Volunteers for Alternative Spring Break encourage students to join them.

If you don’t have any plans for this year’s spring break, then you may want to consider Alternative Spring Break (ASB).

ASB is a national organization that takes volunteers to various communities in need of development and assistance.

“This organization is dedicated to offering University of Missouri Kansas City students opportunities to explore social, cultural, economic, and political issues during academic beaks in the spring,” UMKC ASB Facebook fan page says.

Instead of going to Miami, Fla. or Cancun, Mexico for spring break, student of ASB are heading down to Laredo, Texas.

While in Laredo, the members will volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.

ASB will leave on Saturday, March 26 and return on Saturday, April 2.

“In Texas we will be working Monday through Friday from about 8 a.m.-4 p.m.,” Vice President Craig Flanery said. “On most days we have some fun activities planned for our night, including a Fiesta with everyone volunteering on the site there. Some of the families we are building houses for also come to the fiesta.”

According to Flanery, the families that ASB helps are very grateful for the work done in their communities.

“All the families are so grateful for everything you do for them. We also get to know the families because they usually help build with us,” Flanery said.

Each family that will receive a house through Habitat for Humanity must complete up to 500 “sweat equity hours,” which are hours the prospective residents dedicate to help build with ASB and Habitat, before moving in.

Each year, ASB needs a certain number of volunteers to go on the trip. They are currently seeking UMKC students to fill vacant spots before the trip.

“Prior to going on the spring break trip, we would like participants complete 15 hours of volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity here in the Kansas City area,” Flanery said. “I set up work days for the members and they get about eight hours completed in one day.”

Flanery encourages students to volunteer for ASB because of the experience.

“We have many members in ASB that are just a part of the group because they want to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and we are always open for additional members,” Flanery said.

The last scheduled work day will be on March 12.

ASB also has a team-building event on March 19 for the students to get to know each other before the trip.

“We still have about seven or eight spots for the spring break trip open to UMKC students,” Flanery said.

If you are interested in ASB, please go to the Office of Student Involvement in the Student Union, suite 320 and pay a $30 fee to sign up. The total cost for each student is $250.

“We are more then willing to work with students while they get their money together,” Flanery said.

If you have questions or are interested in signing up for work days, contact Kelsey Gossen at kgpxd@umkc.edu.

mlinivlle@unews.com