IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 5, 2012
CONTACT: K.E. Schwab
724.738.2199
karl.schwab@sru.edu

SRU students embrace spring break service     

 Editor’s Note: A list of participants and their hometowns is attached.

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – More than 80 Slippery Rock University students, accompanied by faculty or staff advisers, will spend their spring break involved in “Carebreaks” that will take them to Missouri, Illinois, Utah, Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida, Virginia and Georgia to lend a hand through community service.

           “Our Carebreaks are another opportunity for our students to show their caring nature and to give back to communities across the nation,” said Brad Kovaleski, director of SRU’s Center for Student Involvement and Leadership, which sponsors the program. “Our Spring Break Carebreak Program has been going on for some 18 years and our numbers continue to grow as students see the benefits of giving back and supporting people in need. It is also a great personal learning opportunity.”

           “We see it as a great experience, and it also helps students build their skills in organizing such trips. It helps build their confidence, and they also learn about working with others toward a common goal,” Kovaleski said.

           “The SRU program gives students the chance to travel across the U.S., and in some years to international countries, during spring break to volunteer in projects that make a difference in people’s lives – including their own,” he said.

           Since the program’s 1994 inception, more than 1,200 SRU students, faculty and staff have participated in the various trips. This year’s Carebreaks run March 10-18.

           As part of the program, participants raised their share of the costs for transportation and incidentals.

           The upcoming trips and the project work involved includes:

           The Appalachian Service Project in Virginia where eight SRU students will help repair homes for low-income families in Central Appalachia. The ASP has been under way for more than 40 years and serviced thousands or regional residents.

           SRU students headed to Pensacola, Fla., will work with Community Collaborations on a variety of ecosystem restorations. They will also choose a variety of other community-based projects addressing child welfare, poverty, homelessness, immigration and education. The environmental projects are designed to build student understanding of coastal ecosystems and watersheds and how they are affected by manmade and natural disasters.

           With the help of 10 SRU students and other volunteers from across the nation, Lakeshore Baptist Church in Lakeshore, Miss., will continue work at its distribution center, clean property, rehab houses and construct new homes in the region as part of a special program.
           The 13 SRU students traveling to Moab, Utah, will continue the tradition of providing natural resource and environmental help by working with Plateau Restoration. The students will be involved in significant projects that restore the health of critical wildlife habitats while exposing issues that are not apparent to a casual visitor to the Colorado Plateau.

           The program will also include presentations by experienced educators on natural history, geology, human history and resource issues, educational handouts and project overviews that highlight the importance of the project’s work.

           The 280,000-acre Shawnee National Forest in Illinois will be home to 10 SRU Carebreak students where they will be involved in trail delineation and elimination of social trails, fence- building to protect re-vegetation sites, erosion control, planting native vegetation in impacted sites and exotic species removal.
           The 13 students headed to Missouri will connect with the Kansas City YMCA to join in and lead “Children After School” projects. The Y is committed to supporting families and the programs will focus on creating a nurturing environment where making friends, homework support, physical activity and exploring interests are the top priority.

           The nine-member student group headed to Little Rock, Ark., will work with Heifer International to help educate hungry people how to produce food. The group will stay at Heifer Ranch, a global educational campus and demonstration farm that provides experiential education that inspires, challenges and engages people to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth.

           Ranch volunteers, including high school and college students, will work as a team to create experiences that change the lives of thousands of participants. They will participate in educational programming, care for livestock, tend gardens, maintain the facilities and provide operations support.

           SRU’s Care Break program has provided more than $1 million in community service value since its inception, organizers said.

Slippery Rock University is Pennsylvania’s premier public residential university. Slippery Rock University provides students with a comprehensive learning experience that intentionally combines academic instruction with enhanced educational and learning opportunities that make a positive difference in their lives.

Carebreak participants 2012