United Way of Morris County News
Recent News
Alternative Spring Break Volunteers Make an Impact, Have Fun in Southwest Louisiana
March 24, 2008
 7:15 a.m. brings legions of young women and men wandering bleary-eyed and bed-headed through the halls of the Volunteer Housing Center (VHC) in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Once bright “Live United” t-shirts are now faded and stained with paint and mud. Some heads are covered with kerchiefs and baseball caps; feet are shod in raggedy sneakers and heavy, clomping work boots. Tromping over to the food servers, the workers shovel down eggs, cereal and oranges, then pack their minivans with triangular sandwiches, paintbrushes and drills and head to their worksites for the day.
Welcome to Alternative Spring Break.
 A program of United Way of America and sponsored by FedEx and Deloitte, the goal of Alternative Spring Break (ASB) is to inspire young people to engage in community service during their spring vacations and beyond. “This year, we continue to build on the groundswell of compassion and commitment of Generation Y.,” stated Brian A. Gallagher, President and CEO, United Way of America. “There’s not a better connection that we could make than between people who need help and people who can help. This year, we’re extending service projects beyond the Gulf Coast because there are communities across the country that have pressing needs that can be addressed through thoughtful, focused and committed volunteer work.” United Way is hosting three sites in 2008: Detroit, Michigan; Biloxi, MS; and Lake Charles, LA.
During the week of March 15-22, approximately 100 participants and team leaders chose to spend their spring breaks in Southwest Louisiana to take part in the five- to ten-year rebuilding process from the destruction caused by Hurricane Rita, the fourth-strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in the United States.
The setup may seem like an overnight camp for big kids: FedEx-sponsored stations, scattered throughout the VHC, announce an internet area (approximately twenty laptops), charging stations (multiple power strips to charge cell phones and power hair dryers), and oodles of snack foods. Two TVs with full couch setups blare from the center of the meeting room, where the morning ritual is watching “Saved by the Bell” reruns. Nightfall brings kickball, Catch Phrase, and endless Sonic runs for ice cream and cherry limeades.
 But the week is not all fun and games. Among other projects, participants spent their days getting dirty by clearing debris from local cemeteries, filling sandboxes at children’s parks, putting up sheetrock and drywall in damaged homes, hauling junk out of community members’ homes, and rebuilding a handicap-accessible ramp for an agency for people with disabilities. At the end of the week, team leaders presented a check to its host, United Way of Southwest Louisiana, for the price of the work performed by the week’s participants. The cost of the volunteers’ free labor was estimated at over $85,000.
The participants recorded their reflections on the week on their various Facebook and MySpace pages and on BlueTube, United Way’s ASB video blog. Among the emotions expressed? Satisfaction. Happiness. Humility. Amazement. Awe. Determinedness. Excitement.
All in a week’s work. |
