Alternative Breaks

Alternative Spring Breaks Application 2012 - We still have limited spots open for Alternative Spring Breaks. Check out how you can get involved!

The Center for Service Learning and Community Service offers Oswego students many different opportunities to volunteer and travel, including Alternative Breaks.

Ranging from international to local trips, these breaks allows for students to explore while volunteering at a variety of different sites. These trips provide different options for students who wish to find something that will provide a more fulfilling and self-enriching experience during breaks from classes.

One of the appealing aspects of Alternative Breaks is that each trip provides a new and exciting task. No two trips are the same. The trips vary in duties and responsibilities as well as in length of stay. Trips during the spring semesters last a week from the beginning until the end of Spring Break. The Winter Break trips usually last longer, with participants going for two weeks.

Check back for the release of the application and information about due dates.

Here's some history  about our trips and tasks:

Spring 2012:

Outreach 360 in the Dominican Republic

Outreach360 has a vision of "a transformed world in which every child is able to pursue a college degree or to be gainfully employed upon reaching adulthood, enabling them to live a life of choice. Each child will become an active citizen, committed to serving those less fortunate, and be an active friend of the environment."  Volunteers will be teaching English and doing other activities with children for the week.

HeadStart in Bridgeton, New Jersey

Volunteers will primarily be working with preschool-aged children in a large daycare center in rural, southern New Jersey.  These children come from impoverished families, and the majority are from Latin American families. 

Carolina Tiger Rescue in Pittsboro, North Carolina

Volunteers will provide support at this nonprofit wildlife sanctuary whose mission is
saving and protecting wild cats in captivity and in the wild.

Habitat for Humanity in Florence, Alabama

Volunteers will assist in the construction of a house for a deserving family in need in an impoverished area of Alabama.  No building experience necessary!

Habitat for Humanity in Waterloo, Iowa

Volunteers will assist in the construction of a house for a deserving family in need in an impoverished area of Alabama.  No building experience necessary!

Operation Southern Comfort - Ongoing Hurricane Katrina Relief Effort
The Center for Service Learning and Community Service is partnering with Operation Southern Comfort to take a SUNY Oswego group to volunteer in the Gulf Coast region, supporting the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts that are still on-going. This trip will take place March 10^th-18^th, 2012, and costs $280 per person. To register for this trip, go to www.operationsoutherncomfort.org. On the left hand side of the homepage, click "register." It is imperative that you list "SUNY Oswego" as the group name on the registration form. This trip has 28 spots available for students and will be filled on a first-come first-serve basis.

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Spring 2011:

• Bridgeton, New Jersey - Head Start - Volunteers will primarily be working with pre-school children in a large daycare center in rural, southern New Jersey.
• Baltimore, Maryland - Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen - Volunteers will assist in the daily operation, specifically preparing for, serving, and cleaning up after lunch, in this urban soup kitchen that serves over 700 people daily.
• Pittsboro, North Carolina - Carolina Tiger Rescue - Volunteers will provide support at this nonprofit wildlife sanctuary whose mission is saving and protecting wild cats in captivity and in the wild.
• Florence, Alabama - Habitat for Humanity - Volunteers will assist in the construction of a house for a deserving family in need in an impoverished area of Alabama.
• Waterloo, Iowa - Habitat for Humanity - Volunteers will assist in the construction of a house for a deserving family in need in an impoverished area of Iowa.
  
  

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Winter 2011

• New Orleans, Louisiana - Operation Southern Comfort - Performed various tasks on residential homes to offset the residual damage from Hurricane Katrina.
• Great Bay, Jamaica – VIJON – Worked in basic school with children from the ages of 3-5. Worked to develop compost pile and planted trees for school gardens
  

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Spring 2010

• Florence, Alabama – Habitat for Humanity – Worked on a house starting with establishing the frame. Also finished the exterior with vinyl siding and helped run the electrical wiring throughout the house.
• Baltimore – Catholic Charities – Worked in the nation’s largest soup kitchen, Our Daily Bread. Worked with children at a local Head Start program, from ages 3-5. Worked with adults with disabilities, and taught English to speakers of other languages.
•  Morgantown, West Virginia – Habitat for Humanity – Worked on a local school for boys with behavioral issues.
•  Bridgeton, New Jersey – Head Start – Worked in pre-K classrooms to assist teachers with children ranging in the ages from 3-5.  Waynesburg, Pennsylvania – Habitat for Humanity – Built housing for supplies and tools for future projects.
•  Pittsboro, North Carolina – North Carolina Tiger Rescue – Worked to rehabilitate an enclosure for future big cats. Repaired fencing,  maintained the grounds, worked close to many large, exotic animals.
  

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Winter 2010

• New Orleans – Operation Helping Hands – Painted the exterior and some interior of residential homes, also, repaired floor tiling.
•  Meridian, Mississippi – Habitat for Humanity – Helped to reconstruct housing that was damaged from Hurricane Katrina.
• Great Bay, Jamaica - VIJON - Worked hand-in-hand with a volunteer group in Jamaica to assist in classrooms ranging from pre-K to sixth grade. Also built a volunteer site and small playground for children.
  

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Spring 2009

• Jackson, Tennessee – Habitat for Humanity - Worked to build the frame of a house. Paneled the exterior of another house. Worked in Habitat office preparing it for business.
•  New Orleans – Operation Helping Hands – Worked on the exterior of homes. Included painting window frames, trim, and gates.
•  Bridgeton, New Jersey – Head Start – Worked in pre-K classrooms to assist teachers with children ranging in the ages from 3-5.
•  Bridgeport, Connecticut – Habitat for Humanity – Worked on an apartment complex for single mothers.
•  Greenfield, New Hampshire – Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation – Aiding individuals with disabilities.
  

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Winter 2009

• Great Bay, Jamaica – VIJON – Worked hand-in-hand with a volunteer group in Jamaica to assist in classrooms ranging from pre-K to sixth grade. Also built a volunteer site and small playground for children.
  

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Spring 2008

• Franklin, West Virginia – Habitat for Humanity - Working on houses to aid impoverished families.

•  Portland, Maine – Habitat for Humanity