FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                               
March 15, 2007 

CONTACT:
Siobhan Dugan                                                                        
202/606-6707; sdugan@cns.gov

More than 20,000 Students Head to Gulf Coast
For Spring Break Service Projects

Washington, DC—More than 18 months after Hurricane Katrina struck, the Gulf Coast is a major destination for students on their spring breaks. During this respite from classes, an estimated 20,000 students will trade vacations for volunteering, with thousands expected to participate in a host of projects run by organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and the Hands On Network. 

Over the past decade, the “alternative spring break” movement—through which students perform community service projects during their vacation time—has taken off. Each year, thousands of students, mostly from colleges, but some high school students as well, build houses for low-income families, care for AIDS patients, and tutor inner-city children. The ongoing need for assistance in the rebuilding effort following Hurricane Katrina, has added a new urgency and interest to the movement.

“American college students represent the future promise of their communities and our nation,” said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America. “This kind of committed service shows that they embrace their responsibility to heal other communities and to help others find their own promising future. These students are setting a fine example for all of us, and shining a spotlight on the kind of civic engagement that will make our communities healthy and strong.”

As Emma O’Brien, an AmeriCorps NCCC member based in Sacramento, Calif., noted, “People really wanted to come down and see for themselves the difference they can make.” O’Brien and hundreds of other AmeriCorps members are in the Gulf States, leading teams of students as they assist with the area’s recovery.

For its part, the Corporation for National and Community Service has sent more than 5,700 AmeriCorps members in the Gulf Coast since the devastating 2005 hurricanes. AmeriCorps members serve with a variety of organizations, including the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, YouthBuild, conservation corps, and many smaller faith-based and community organizations. Among other activities, they are mucking out damaged homes, clearing debris, restoring parks, building new homes, and training and supervising volunteers, including college students on spring break.

Jill Piacitelli of Break Away, the Alternative Break Connection, noted that the hurricanes of 2005 prompted many colleges to sponsor alternative spring break trips last year. Afterward, “we got a lot of calls from people saying that we want to grow that program. Our chapter membership probably grew 15 percent from where it was last year.”

The jump in spring break service trips this year reflects a larger trend of increased levels of volunteer service by America’s college students. A comprehensive report on college volunteering released by the Corporation last fall found volunteering among college students has increased by 20 percent since 2005, more than double the growth in the adult volunteering rate. The study, College Students Helping America, found that 3.3 million college students volunteered in 2005 – nearly 600,000 more students than three years ago. The Corporation has set a national goal of increasing that number to 5 million college students and student associations, and nonprofit organizations toward that goal.

Organizations sending college students to the Gulf this year include:

• Break Away, the Alternative Break Connection: More than 12,000 students from 107 colleges are registered with projects through Break Away, which has a mission to train, assist, and connect campuses and communities in promoting quality alternative break programs that inspire lifelong active citizenship.

• Campus Crusade for Christ: The organization’s four-week program will send about 2,000 students to the Gulf States. Projects include clearing debris, working with the local Spanish-speaking population, serving meals at the New Orleans Mission, and addressing devastation in the outlying areas and suburbs of New Orleans.

• Community Collaborations International: It focuses on projects outside the United States, mostly in Latin America. But last year, about 1,000 students participated in domestic CCI projects; a similar number is expected this year. That number includes volunteers from medical schools at Dartmouth and the University of Texas who will support local clinics.

• Habitat for Humanity’s Collegiate Challenge: More than 11,500 students are registered to participate in the Collegiate Challenge this year. The students, who represent 495 high schools and colleges, will build homes in 220 communities, most of which are in the Gulf States.

• Hands On Network: The organization’s affiliates in New Orleans and Biloxi, Miss. will host more than 1,500 spring break volunteers over the next six weeks to do everything from roofing and painting to gutting homes.

• Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life: Six interfaith groups are traveling to New Orleans to help rebuild the city as part of Hillel’s second year of relief work in the Gulf. More than 500 students from 34 campuses will participate in “Hillel Builds.”

• Lutheran Disaster Response: The 2007 “What a Relief!” program will send 800 college and university students to projects in the Gulf Coast. Project sites are in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Students will hang drywall, paint interior walls, and replace roof shingles on homes that are being rehabilitated.

The Corporation for National and Community Service provides opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country through three programs: Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. Together with the USA Freedom Corps, the Corporation is working to build a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility in America. For more information, visit www.nationalservice.gov.

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