Catholic Mission

Alternative Break Service Trips

Alternative Break Service Trips take students to one international and four domestic destinations for one or two weeks of service and mutual cultural exchange. The trips are based on four pillars:  service, simplicity, community, and reflection and are co-led by students and staff.

Sample Destinations:

New York City:  Part of the Solution Soup Kitchen:  Students served lunch and dinner to homeless and low-income individuals, sorted food and clothes, and learned about poverty, Catholic Social Teaching, and community organizing in the Bronx.

New Orleans:  Catholic Charities Operation Helping Hands:  Students helped re-build homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina through exterior painting and landscaping projects, and heard from the Office of the Mayor on the road to recovery.

Texas/Mexico Border:  Women's Intercultural Center:  Students visited with host families in Juarez, Mexico, helped build eco-friendly homes, and participated in seminars on immigration, fair trade, globalization, and other social justice issues.

South Dakota:  Cheyenne River Youth Project:  Students conducted an enrichment program for children and teens on the Cheyenne River Reservation and did educational touring of historic Native American sites.

Immokalee, Florida:  Students learned about the lives of migrant farm workers and their families at the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, worked on a farm and learned about the need of fair wages at Harvest for Humanity, served lunch at a soup kitchen, and worked with children at a day care center.

San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala:  San Lucas Mission:  Students who went on this cross-cultural learning experience participated in various projects associated with reforestation, coffe processing and picking, and construction.