As many students gear up to head to beautiful beaches, resorts and clubs for Spring Break, several Syracuse University and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students are breaking ties from the norm.

While many students may be worn out from school and extracurricular activities, some students are taking on more work during the break to help those in need. This Spring Break, Habitat for Humanity’s SU/SUNY ESF chapter will offer three alternative trips to Chicago, Greenwood, South Carolina and Northern Ocean, NJ. Students who are interested in the trip still have a chance to go, and each trip costs around $350, including transportation and food.

With so much attention on spring break trips to islands and coastal areas, it might be hard to imagine why someone would rather do work than lay on a beach and party.

“I believe students should choose a spring break trip volunteering because they get to meet new people who also attend the same school as well as making an impact on someone’s life,” Danielle Benavides, an executive director of Habitat for Humanity, said in an email. “It is a great opportunity overall because they are able to travel, make new friends and learn more about construction and challenging themselves.”

Each location will offer different community service opportunities. More than simply working on houses, Benavides said that, in her experience, she has also worked on gardening, breaking down sidewalks and working on local churches with Habitat For Humanity.

SU’s Habitat for Humanity chapter, a nonprofit organization known for building homes for those who are in extreme levels of poverty or have had their homes destroyed in natural disasters, does a lot of work in the Syracuse community by representing the organization’s initiative each weekend.

“We work to enhance community involvement of SU students. We have weekly volunteering in the Syracuse community and surrounding towns. The volunteering consists of housing based building and rehabilitation,” Arianna Rogers, a Habitat for Humanity member in charge of one of the trips this Spring Break, said in an email. “Habitat for Humanity is an organization that promotes volunteerism and home ownership in the Syracuse community and beyond.”

The organization has done a lot to help those in the Syracuse community and continues to get students involved.

“We partner with other nonprofits,” Benavides said, including “Northern Comfort and the Habitat for Humanity in Syracuse, NY. We donate money to different projects each semester and have helped complete homes within the Syracuse community.”

While working to build homes, the students will be able to meet new people and make connections that can last a very long time.

“Volunteers on the spring break trip will have the opportunity to meet with homeowners and hear about their story, explore the local culture and do work ranging from gardening to construction,” Zhen Zheng, an executive board member, said in an email.

Zheng also said while gaining new experiences, the students will positively affect the lives of others through their volunteer work.

“This trip provides SU students to have a real tangible impact on someone’s life and offer an opportunity to hear the story from a home owner perspective of their life,” Zheng said.

The alternative spring break trips offered by Habitat may not be the same as going to South Beach, but, in some ways, Rogers said the same fulfillment can be gained.

“People should choose attending trips like ours over a typical vacation because it allows you to make an impact on people’s lives and community while going to places you might’ve never been before,” Rogers said. “During these trips you work alongside volunteers from the community and from other schools across the country and even some future Habitat homeowners.”

Published on March 3, 2014 at 1:00 am

Contact Bodeline: bkdautru@syr.edu