Two Badger Alternative Break trips providing students with the opportunity to help people and communities in need are scheduled for February break.

The two themes this year are “A Closer look at Homelessness in Vermont,” which will take place Feb. 22-25, where students will volunteer in homeless shelters, and “Conservation and Preservation in National Parks,” which will take place Feb. 22-29, where students will learn about certain environmental issues facing the community and how to remediate them.

Trips each year are based on student and trip leader interest. In the past some trips have included themes of education, animal welfare, and natural disaster relief.

In prior years, Ashley Donahue, a current trip leader, participated in a BAB trip to Louisiana to help with disaster relief from Hurricane Katrina.  “We helped rebuild this one person’s home,” she said. “We sanded, painted and worked on a patio.”

Emily Grant, another trip leader for this year, has been doing community service since eighth grade and saw Badger Alternative Breaks as an opportunity to continue doing community service through college. Her first trip was to Florida’s Ocala National Forest. “Our social issue was animal welfare,” she said “We expanded one of the Capuchin monkey enclosures… I’m very passionate about animals. I have a lot of adopted animals.”

She also said she plans to return to Ocala National Forest to volunteer there further.

The trip leaders say that Badger Alternative Breaks is an organization that provides not only opportunities to serve, but also opportunities to create lifelong connections. “I like having small friend groups,” said Donahue, “and this lets me do something I like while making new friends.”

On these trips, students will be working closely with others who are also passionate about the theme of the trip. “The friends that I made through that program and the connections I made at our site,” said Grant. ”I know that a lot of people that were in my group were interested [in going back to volunteer] too.”

The Badger Alternative Break program provides more than community service and bonding opportunities, however.  As an example of so-called “high-impact learning,” the trips intend to be educational, providing multiple opportunities to learn new things.  “One [lesson] was learning about what I like to do and how I would structure things or about how I want to make an impact on people and how to volunteer,” Grant said.

Despite being tired after every day of work, she said she knew she worked hard to give back and “that is what matters.”

To learn more about Badger Alternative Breaks students can go to the SERVE office in Stearns 408.