University of Kansas
ALTERNATIVE BREAKS
20142015
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KUAB.ORG
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Let fro ter dir m th e ect ors
Shelby Webb and Ally Briggs Hello friends, We had the biggest surprise of our college careers this spring at Alternative Breaks, and we cannot stop thinking about it! Every year, the Student Involvement and Leadership Center gives awards to the top organizations on campus. The evening culminates in the presentation of the Student Organization of the Year awards, which recognizes the top organizations in student life and academic enrichment. We were overwhelmed when the announcer revealed that Alternative Breaks had won BOTH the categories. It was incredible to see our organization garner so much support from the community at KU. When we consider the work of our student coordinators, on whom we are entirely dependent, it is easy to see what the selection committee saw in them. We have had 19 coordinators and interns work tirelessly to provide experiences that allow KU students to serve, learn, and grow. This year, we served 673 KU students, with 34 trips across 4 seasons. One of our most incredible areas of growth, which we would like to share with you, has come from our Weekend Breaks program. Our weekend breaks program allows volunteers to serve for a few hours on Saturdays and Sundays within the Eastern Kansas community. We have had volunteers travel to Lawrence, Kansas City, Topeka, and Baldwin City to serve a broad range of organizations. Additionally, our Fall Breaks program included a trip to Iola, Kansas. While our week-long breaks send students to volunteer and represent KU at every corner of our country, we also want to grow our connections with the Kansas community, which is home to many KU students. This year, weekend breaks alone had 432 volunteers ser ve 1320 hours at 48 sites. Across all seasons, AB volunteers served for more than 5,800 hours with 3,000 more expected from our summer participants. With continued generous support from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the Schools of Engineering, Education, Business, and Social Welfare, the Honors Program, the All-Scholarship Hall Council, and private donors, 47% of week-long participants received financial aid. Through our class that leads to Service Learning Certification as part of the University’s Core Curriculum, we have had 36 students enrolled and receive these certifications. We have had a fantastic year working with this organization. Alternative Breaks brings such a strong, familial bond to participants and coordinators alike. Ally Briggs and Shelby Webb
Am ber Nor ris Par tic ipa nt Spanish Major w/ Pre-Med Focus Wichita, KS. Class of 2016. Fall 2012: People City Mission Lincoln, NE. Winter 2014: Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency Atlanta, GA.
“It was humbling to interact with people from all different backgrounds and to share our stories”
Alternative Breaks participant Amber Norris has no shortage of energy.
In addition to their volunteer site, Amber and her fellow participants had
Whether she’s representing the University as an orientation assistant or
the opportunity to volunteer with and learn from the congregation at City
dancing with KU’s Unity Hip Hop group, Amber’s doing it with absolute
of Light Church in Atlanta. The church did far more than house them for
radiance. Recently, she brought that energy to Alternative Breaks in a 2014
the week. The congregation’s predominantly LGBTQ+ “invited [Amber’s
winter trip to the Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency. Amber and her group
group] into that community” and provided a safe space to ask questions
worked primarily in the Center’s restaurant, Cafe 458, which stands to
and gain understanding. They were so loved by the Church, that they found
turn the soup kitchen model on it’s head. The Cafe runs like a traditional
themselves being fought over by Church members hoping to have them
restaurant in every way-- except, during certain hours, the meals are free
over for dinner. For Amber, the experience was “humbling” and an amazing
for those in need. President Jimmy Carter described Cafe 458 as “a place
opportunity to “interact with people from all different backgrounds and
where the homeless can receive a hug, a warm meal and retain their dig-
share our stories.”
nity as human beings.” Amber described it as an awesome place to “spread positivity by preparing and serving meals” and “make connections” with the
Between preparing food at Cafe 458 and dinners with Church members,
men and women they served.
Amber and her group were able to explore many of Atlanta’s sites including Martin Luther King Jr.’s home, an Art Museum and the rings at Olympic Park. The sum of these experience lead Amber to find value in her “own blessings and shortcomings” and grown through service.
List the trips you participated in and leadership roles you held with Alternative Breaks: 2009 ASB
Teach for America Philadelphia
2010 ASuB
Catalina Island Environmental Leadership Program
2009-2010
PR Co-Coordinator
2010
Summer Breaks Co-Coordinator/Co-Founder
2010-2011SB Co-Coordinator 2011-2012
Co-Director
What are you doing now? I’m currently in North Carolina getting a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning at the UNC Chapel Hill. I’m also serving as the Editor of the Carolina Planning Journal. This summer I’ll be working in Austin, TX with thinkEAST, a development project that will be creating a low-income, context-oriented, mixed use community in a historically Latino/a East Side of Austin. I’m working with Fusebox Festival, an arts festival organization, a planning consulting firm, and the City of Austin on the project.
What was your first Alternative Breaks experience? What drew you to the program? My first experience was going to Philadelphia to work in Teach for America classrooms for a week. Heidi Weseloh and Ben Berning were the Spring Breaks Coordinators. I was so impressed with the class and with the trip in general. Some old AB favorites like Tyler Enders, Molly Sailors, and David
Julia Barnard
Wilcox were all on that trip. I learned a lot, got to travel, and definitely knew then that I wanted to become more involved.
Do you have a favorite story or memory from your AB tenure? So many. I think that my favorite memory is just crowding into the office day after day (12+ people, most of the time) and loving it. I do love thinking about some major achievements like setting up the Endowment account or getting AB recognized as a part of the Core curriculum, but I really loved spending time with Core most!
What’s the craziest thing to happen to you on a break? We ran out of gas on our way to Philadelphia right outside of Columbia, Missouri. That was pretty crazy. Also: going snorkeling at night off of Catalina was pretty spectacular.
How, if at all, has your experience with AB shaped who you are and what you’re doing today? I really think that AB has shaped a lot of who I am today (and what I’m doing). There are two different sides to this question: values and skills. In terms of values, AB definitely taught me to get involved in my community and in the nation, to think hard about service and social justice, and to try and get other people involved as well. It also taught me to think about root causes instead of symptoms (language I still use). It led me to my first job out of college, teaching University students at UT-Austin about service-learning and social justice, and certainly led to my choosing City Planning (an applied field with enormous opportunities for activism and justice work) as a career. In terms of skills: AB taught me everything I know about collaboration, organization, design, marketing, and budgeting. It’s so amazing that AB is student-led, because we are able to teach each other so much and learn from each other--we learn to be generalists and not to rely on anyone but ourselves to get things done.
What advice would you give to our next batch of AB participants? In terms of values: I would say pay attention. If you are critical of a non-profit or leader, think about why they might be limited in a certain area. Is it because they are over-worked and under-funded? Is it because they are only funded to run certain types of programs and not others? Are they addressing the symptom or the root cause? In terms of skills: If your group situation is difficult, why? Is there a bad apple in your group? Is it you? How can you take it upon yourself to intervene? How can you be a better collaborator/group member? I’d say the more responsibility each participant can feel on a personal level, the better off the trip and the program (and the world!) will be.
ith Q&A w Past ors direct List the trips you participated in and leadership roles you held with Alternative Breaks (with approximate dates where possible)? So hard to remember! I feel so old as I do this! 2008-2009 ASB
Houston AIDS Foundation
2009-2010 AB Weekend
Co-Coordinator,
AWB Alternatives for Girls
2010-2011 AB Spring
Co-Coordinator
2011-2012 AB
Co-Director
What are you doing now? I’m currently an optometry student at the UC Berkeley. I’m about to start my 4th and final year in the program and will be spending the next year rotating through different clinics and VA hospitals.
Do you have a favorite story or memory from your AB tenure? I was so proud of the first AB Story Slam event, and even more proud when I
Stephanie Jian
was able to attend the Story Slam event the following year. I am so passionate about the power of storytelling, and there is no better way to understand the incredible impact Alternative Break trips have on students’ lives other than through first hand accounts. time our van almost drove into a ditch during a crazy snowstorm but we somehow drove (swiped? slid?) back out. Do not publicize this, everyone in KU admin would throw up thinking about it.
How, if at all, has your experience with AB shaped who you are and what you’re doing today? Alternative Breaks gave me the opportunity to develop tremendous leadership and team-building skills as well as cementing a lifelong commitment to service. Participating in Alternative Breaks in a leadership capacity and seeing how non-profit organizations function on a day-to-day basis helped me envision all the possibilities I could have in the future to serve the community. The positive, encouraging, productive and team-centered environment that was created by my Alternative Breaks colleagues has given me a high standard to compare all my other leadership and work experiences to. I miss AB so much!
What advice would you give to our next batch of AB participants? Use your Alternative Break experience not only as an opportunity to serve now but also as a chance to see into your future and imagine creative and productive ways to incorporate service into your life.
Alternative Breaks is celebrating 15 years of service. Where would you like to see the organization in the next 15 years? Wow this is so incredible! I’m honored to be part of such a long legacy. I would love to see Alternative Breaks grow an even stronger alumni network and be able to fund the large majority of students’ trips (although I think this already happens now?!). It would be incredible to feature alumni who have gone on to incorporate community service into their lives and careers and share how Alternative Breaks help to inspire their lifelong commitment to service.
Kar e Lew n Alu is mn i
I was drawn to Alternative Breaks by its mission of doing service for others
Despite the fact that I didn’t see the connection between this service trip
while experiencing new places. The idea that I could work with National
and my major, it made me feel good that the Core staff offered me the
Park employees on removing invasive plants and enjoy the vistas of Utah or,
opportunity to serve. Not having built connections within the group, it felt
help with an environmental school’s mission and swim with the fishes in the
a little awkward at first but when you drive 12+ hours with people, you can’t
Pacific Ocean was a definite selling point for me! It allowed me to try out
help but get to know them! Once we arrived and began to disassemble
different aspects of my major in Environmental Studies and gain personal
and reassemble homes, I began to recognize why I was called to serve
insights that effectually have been shaping my future ever since. I say this
there, with that group of volunteers, at that time.
because I consider my most influential break to be one I almost didn’t take, supporting the Lower Nine Organization in New Orleans.
Since serving at this site I have become interested in the community building aspects of my major especially as they involve economic and food
The Lower Nine Organization focuses on rebuilding the poorest section of
security. Helping others understand and recognize how their relationships
New Orleans after it was hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. These individuals
with their environment are a vital piece of this and what I am looking for in
took the brunt of the storm damage when levees holding the Mississippi
future work. Following graduation I have been serving an AmeriCorps con-
River banks broke. More than 5 years later, this neighborhood still sat in
tract with Clinton State Park, volunteering with Hidden Valley nature camp
limbo, with FEMA marked flood damaged homes still present on unrepaired
and Engineers Without Borders, and was recently asked to join the City of
streets. Many vital community tying services like churches, grocery, parks
Lawrence Sustainability Advisory Board.
and schools were missing as well as the people who would fill them. Lower Nine Organization helps homeowners by organizing and supervising vol-
I participated in three Alternative Breaks during my undergraduate years at
unteers like us to perform the labor, leaving them to fund only the material
KU: Zion National Park in Utah in the spring, Lower Nine Organization in
cost needed to rebuild their homes.
New Orleans in the winter and Catalina Island of the coast of Santa Barbara in the summer. Each one of these trips left me with a unique experience
I visited this area with an eclectic group of individuals that I hardly knew
that cannot be replicated and friendships that will not be forgotten. This
because I was an alternate driver. Unlike my first experience with the Zion
organization performs a valuable service for the education of students at KU
group, I had not met and worked with my group during the class compo-
and I hope many more will take advantage of it in the future.
nent. That aspect of the Alternative Break experience is often underrated but so important to building a good rapport with a group of people that you will be eating, sleeping and working with almost exclusively for a week. Being able to use the class component to earn the Certificate in Service Learning is great too!
Core! 201415 Left to Right: Shelby Webb (Director), Chris Rice (Fundraising Coordinator), Alex Lucas (Graphic Designer), Maddy Olm-Shipman (Finance Coordinator), Seth Bollinger (Summer Break Coordinator), Sarah Larsen (Summer Break Coordinator), Hanna Ritland, (Public Relations Intern), Michaela Baeuchle (Public Relations Coordinator), McKenna Brown (Weekend Break Coordinator), Garrett Mehl (Research Analysts), Megan Bricks (Weekend Break Coordinator), Chloe Marshall (Winter Break Coordinator), Brock Duran (Winter Break Coordinator), Allyson Briggs (Director) Not Pictured: Annie Matheis (Spring Break Coordinator), Matthew Ong (Research Analysts)
Fall: Art Feeds (Joplin, MO), Knob Noster (Knob Noster, MO), Community Youth Concepts (Des Moines, IA) and Thrive Allen County (Iola, KS) Winter: Cherokee Nation (Tahlequah, OK), Epworth (St Louis, MO), Everglades National Park (Homestead, FL), Freedom House (Detroit, MI), Habitat for Humanity (Fort Worth, TX), Home of the Sparrow (McHenry, IL), Hope House (Memphis, Tennessee), International Exotic Animal Sanctuary (Boyd, TX), Kerrville (Kerrville, TX), Misericordia (Chicago, IL), Music Therapy Center (Houston, TX), Playworks (Denver, CO), Project Open Hand (Atlanta, GA), Utah Pride Center (Salt Lake City) and WINGS (Felton, MN) Spring: 826 Chicago (Chicago, IL), AIDS Foundation (Houston, TX), Ark Crisis (Evansville, IN), Mission Wolf (Westcliffe, CO), People Working Cooperatively (Cincinnati, OH) and Urban Ecology Center (Milwaukee, WI)
Summer: Alzheimer’s Day Services (Memphis, TN ), Amicus (Minneapolis, MN), Best Friends Animal Society (Kanab, UT), Catalina Island Conservancy (Catalina Island, California), City of Light (Atlanta, GA), Give Kids the World (Kissimmee, FL), Habitat For Humanity (Salt Lake City, UT), Montgomery County Women’s Center (Montgomery, AL) and Playworks (Los Angeles, CA) Weekend: Boys Hope Girls Hope, Bridging the Gap, Clinton Lake, Cultivate KC, DCCDA, Douglas County Suicide Prevention Coalition, Friends of Hidden Valley, Harvesters, Heartland Community Health Center, Just Food, Kaleidoscope, Kansas Neurological Institute, Kansas City Zoo, KU Audio Reader, KU Field Station, Lawrence Humane Society, Maggie’s Farm, Mental Health America of the Heartland, Midnight Farms, Ozanam, Rose Brooks Center and Willow Domestic Violence Center
University of Kansas
ALTERNATIVE BREAKS 20142015 KUAB.ORG/DONATE
KUAB.ORG/ALUMNI