Park Scholars spend their spring breaks volunteering

Andrew Zivic, 3/21/2008  ·  0 comments

            Many college students take spring break to go on exotic trips and spend that week relaxing. For some park scholars, however, spring break was anything but a break.

            That’s because they used that week to volunteer around the eastern U.S. from Louisiana to North Carolina to Washington D.C.

            In Louisiana were Lucien DelaBruere, Alyssa Gardina, Amanda Butts and Colleen Shea. They worked in an area that had been torn apart by Hurricane Katrina and still had not been fully rebuilt.

            Some of them spent their time finishing two different houses by painting them and sealing them. Others had more intricate tasks like working with the electrical wiring or plumbing of a different house.    

            “It was a really fulfilling experience for two reasons: We not only got to talk with the future homeowner and really connect with her, but we also came away with a lot of practical skills,” senior Alyssa Gardina said about the experience.

            Juniors Jeremy Tagliaferee and Dan Ophardt worked with Habitat for Humanity in North Carolina for the week. They helped build the whole frame and roof of a house.

             “Leaving something as concrete as the frame is something we can be sure will help,” Ophardt said.  “I’m satisfied that we left the project at a point from which the few full-time volunteers in North Carolina can much more easily get it done.”

            Freshmen Ayshea Khan and Mykal Urbina volunteered in Washington D.C for four days. They spent the time helping out around the city, including at the Community for Creative Non-Violence, the country’s largest homeless shelter.

            Khan said, “The trip really changed my perspective regarding the poor, and being in D.C. was great because while you get to see how great this country is, you realize how much change we need to go through in order become the nation we want (or claim to want) to be.”

            Instead of using their breaks to take it easy and relax, these Park Scholars decided their time could be better spent giving back to people and communities which really needed their help.