Another Great Alternative Spring Break Experience

Hello, my name is Darian Perry. I am a sophomore at the University of Memphis pursuing a nursing degree.  Also, I am the student coordinator for Alternative Spring Break Staycation.  I can’t fully explain how great of an experience ASB Staycation was for me. Every day of ASB Staycation consisted of service, fun, and new experiences for every one of us.  I am so thankful to have the group of people that participated in ASB Staycation because they are the ones who made this week a memorable one for me. Each and every one of the participants had their own personality which made the group diverse yet perfectly bonded.  I admired their hard work and dedication which made every service project productive and successful.  One of the greatest aspects of every service project we did was the fun that we had while serving.  We really enjoyed each other’s company which made it easy for us to work together and make the best of every moment. After participating in ASB last year, I knew that Alternative Spring Break was going to be my plans for Spring Break this year.  That is how much of a great experience ASB was for me! Being able to devote my entire Spring Break to serve in the community has been more fun and more memorable than any other Spring Break.  I really urge students to participate in Alternative Spring Break.  Not only are you serving the community, but you are getting the opportunity to experience new things that you never have before.  While participating in ASB Staycation, I learned and experienced A LOT in Memphis.  Memphis has so many different things to offer.  Throughout the whole week, we were able to explore Memphis.  When I say explore Memphis, we were able to get a “taste of Memphis” by going to different local restaurants/dessert places such as the Memphis Pizza Café, the Trolley Stop Market, A. Schwab, the Bar-B-Que Shop, Gus’s Fried Chicken,  the Cheesecake Corner,  Jerry’s Sno Cones, and Boscos. We were able to experience Memphis by doing a lot of things that Memphis is known for like going to see the Peabody Duck March, touring Beale Street/Cooper Young/ Overton Square, going to the Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, taking photos at the three “I Love Memphis”  walls (that was definitely an adventure),  going on the Memphis

Riverboat Cruise, and going to see The Diary of Anne Frank at the Playhouse on the Square.  The places we went to and the things we got to do most of us had never done before.  I definitely enjoyed everything about ASB Staycation. It is great to know that there are other universities who have an ASB for their students. Thursday, we had an “ASB collaboration” with Sam Houston State University’s Alternative Spring Break

group serving for Promise Development Corporation.  We were able to accomplish our task of tidying up a community garden that was buried beneath leaves, sticks, trash, and grass. We were all amazed at the beauty of the community garden after we had finished the project.  Sam Houston State University was a great group of students and thanked us for letting them join our service project.  Honestly, all thanks went to them because we definitely couldn’t have tackled that project as swiftly and successfully without their help. Our last service project was with Habitat for Humanity on Friday. They are gearing up for their 2014 Spring Build and we were able to take part in building one of the homes.  Many of the participants were able to experience the hard work and dedication it takes to build a home.  We participated in roofing, siding, and nailing. I honestly never want to see a hammer and nail again (laughing, but very serious). Overall, our hard work and dedication paid off after we saw the progress that was made toward the completion of the home. Looking back over the week, I must say that I am proud of the way ASB Staycation turned out.  It was an AMAZING week!! I would like to give thanks to the people at Knowledge Quest, Shelby Farms, St. John’s Soup Kitchen, Door of Hope, Promise Development Corporation, and Habitat for Humanity for allowing us to serve with them and making their service projects a great experience for us!!! Also, I would like to give a special thank you to Latorria Griffith, our ASB Staycation Advisor, for getting us to our service projects and contributing to all the fun we had this week!

Bitter sweet

Dillon Scott-Holliam
Senior Health Admin major
Of course this is a bitter sweet process but everything must come to an end. My excitement and remorse comes not only from our experience being over but knowing that I may never be able to experience it again. My departure from the university due to graduation made me soak every possible opportunity in!

Our last service day consisted of visiting a senior center and partaking in the "festivities" that occurred I got to witness seniors play what is called "bean bag baseball" as we'll see the cheerleaders (our ASB crew) cheer them on. We were rewarded the opportunity to serve them as well as interact with them.

Afterwards we sorted and organized one of the newer facilities they were going to offer the senior citizens, during the project we got to see Angie's (our cooordinator ) mother! It was a privileged serving the seniors in all possible ways, in return they paid for ice cream at this location called "Shakes" which was delectable !

The week as a whole was rewarding yet exhausting, I'm thankful that my senior year was again well spent participating in my third ASB! I exciting to see where they may end up next year!

The Last Service

To conclude the last leg of our ASB tour, we visited seniors who decided that congregating with each other is better than being alone. As members of the Faulkner County Senior Wellness and Activity Center, these people, who are sixty and older engage in social activities such as exercising, bingo, and sporting games to name a few. A sporting game we got to watch and cheer on was Bean bag Baseball which consisted on the Shakers and the Blazers competing on who would acquire the most bases. As we cheered on these teams, I could not help but feel the warmth that radiated from the atmosphere. In addition, there was no doubt that they appreciated us being there as we not only watched but enjoyed the game being played.
Following the game, a representative of that particular district spoke to the seniors on hunger in the state. He elaborated by stating that Arkansas was number one in the country for elderly hunger. I was also shocked when he revealed that one in five persons in the state went to bed hungry. Subsequently, I was reassured that the seniors in that center were not part of that statistic because a hearty lunch is served to them everyday. As lunch was enjoyed,  I conversed with four lovely ladies who gave me life advice in blunt fashion only older people can efficiently execute. They fussed over my picky eating like I was one of their grandchildren. Unfortunately when it was time to depart, it felt bitter sweet. I knew I would never forget these people and their courage to continue to still live life.
After our interactions with the seniors, our group ventured to the new place they will be meeting in. Since the seniors would not be in the new location until July of this year, we were expected to clean and help with simple renovations. With that in mind, I was ecstatic that they would be meeting in a bigger and nicer facility.
 So to sum it up, meeting those senior citizens taught me that life will inevitably age us, but our hearts will remain as young as we allow it.

Mimi Ijeoma Duru

ASB Destination: Serviceland

My name is Bre'yocha Mays and I am a freshman Pre-Nursing major at the University of Memphis. I chose to participate in Alternative Spring Break because I understand the importance of serving communities and the duration of Spring break was the perfect opportunity to serve.

Our day started with a tour of Heifer Ranch outside of Little Rock, Arkansas. Heifer is an organization that once provided animals to families as a way of teaching them how to survive. Heifer has never been, or will be, a relief program! Heifer no longer ships animals off (from the U.S., but rather from areas neighboring those they are serving.) It serves as an educational organization that made a great impact on our group. Mrs. Berta showed us a video that provided great insight to the importance of the animals that Heifer shipped off. The animals served as a gateway opportunity to education for the women of Nepal, India. Owning an animal also provided encouragement and motivation for the women to have their own voice in society as well. Heifer Ranch is filled with llamas, camels, chickens, hogs, cattle, water buffalo, and goats. Mrs. Berta provided educational information about each animal and even gave us the chance to feed the camel apples! (I was too scared to participate!) Heifer also provided a very eye-opening look to other parts of the world with its Global Village. The Global Village had setups to show us what it would be like to live in houses of Guatemala, Thailand, Zambia, and the slums. Being at Heifer Ranch hit home with me because it brought me to memories of my younger days when my cousins and I used to explore in the woods. We also had a clubhouse that resembled the slums a lot! This experience caused me to be grateful and appreciative of my life and all that I have been given.

After leaving Heifer Ranch, we drove to the Arkansas Food Bank. At the food bank, we unpackaged many boxes of food and sorted them into categories. We had to be very careful when checking expiration dates so that no harm would come to those receiving the food. I enjoyed being at the food bank because our group worked so hard and in sync to finish our task. It was so fun and a team-building experience!  I also learned that food banks are very important because they provide food for many different surrounding populations, and that food banks sort of get the first call for disaster relief.

Next, we drove to Little Rock Central High School to tour the museum and get a view of the school
up close. It was a great experience to actually see the school in person and get a feel of life in the 50's and 60's by visiting the museum. Little Rock Central High School made me realize and appreciate the importance of education. I am so grateful to have had the chance to visit this historic location and learn many facts about it.

Alternative Spring Break has been a great experience to me and I have absorbed a lot of knowledge, facts, and skills from it. I have also developed many friendships along the way! ASB will hold many memories and I look forward to another one in the future!

The Perfect Day

My name is Annika Bailey I am a junior pre nursing major at the University of Memphis. Alternative Spring Break has been a wonderful experience and I would recommend this program to anyone. I was a little skeptical at first about coming but I am glad that I decided to do it. This was a good way to spend my spring break. Today has been a great day. First we went on the tour at the Heifer Ranch. It was my first time touring a ranch and it was huge! The video they showed in the beginning showed a lot. It was very eye opening to se

e how the slums looked. Seeing that made me appreciate so much more and be grateful. We later went to the Food Bank where we packaged food. We all worked together and got the job done. This was my first time actually working in the food bank. That night we went out to eat and I enjoyed the food. I have had a lot of fun because the people on this trip has become so close. I couldn't have asked for a better group to be with. We have laughed, joked with one another and more but after this trip I know we will all hang again.  We all could relate to one another in some form or fashion. I was able to visit places I have never been before and it was a great experience.

ASB Staycation Loves Memphis!!!

ASB Staycation at Door of Hope

ASB Staycation Participants inside cleaning, doing outside work, and preparing lunch.

ASB Staycation and the residents of Door of Hope.

Lunch prepared and served by ASB Staycation Participants.

Walking Through the Door of Hope

My name is Marques Traylor. Today was very nice! I really enjoyed myself cleaning and cooking at Door of Hope. I really had a connection with a lot of the residents at Door of Hope. The residents of Door of Hope seemed very happy. I enjoyed singing and connecting with one of the residents, Ms. Robin. We talked about the Lord and I really love connecting with people who love the Lord. My high was when one of the residents, Mr. Lee, stated that I taught him something today.  While cooking spaghetti, I showed him how to use boiling water to get the grease out of the drain. It made me smile when he told me that I taught him how to do that.

Last Day in Shreveport

     Hello, my name is Ericka Gilland. I am a sophomore and Pre-Nursing major at The University of Memphis. My experiences at Shreveport have been very heart warming! We began our second day into Shreveport by organizing the books, and pantry at the Volunteers of America Highland center. Organizing the books for the center was a great deed because the books will later be distributed to all of the Volunteers of America locations for students. Later, at the same location Volunteers of America served a senior citizen luncheon. Many of the ASB team got an opportunity to talk and connect with the seniors. Other team members, like myself, helped the staff in the kitchen and distributed the plates to the seniors. It was really a joy to see the senior citizens enjoy their meal. As the day progressed the ASB team traveled to the  Volunteers of America Bossier Center. We hosted a field day for the students. It gave our team such great satisfaction to see them enjoy playing with each other.
       It really impacted me to know that I helped contribute to a great cause for the children of Shreveport, Louisiana. Volunteers of America is a great non profit organization that is concrete with the education of children, and well being of senior citizens. It was truly an eye opener, and great relief to know that their are still great people in the world today. 😊

VOA Field Day -- bright eyed and bushy tailed

My name is Sydney Featherstone, I am a senior Business Management major and it is March 11th only day two of serving on alternative spring break. However, in these two days we have accomplished so much and I have learned so much about the communities we have served. I have learned that the organizations we are volunteering with are a strong force within each community whether through beautifying the city or nurturing children's minds. It is so much positivity in these cities it's amazing. Serving with Travis Lighthouse Center --Volunteers of America today, we helped to create a "grammatical system", by cutting and labeling cards that will teach them how to properly use grammar. This system will allow the student to grow their knowledge of grammar and will increase in difficulty for at least five years, allowing them to be proficient in this area up until middle school. The work was really tedious, duplicating five years of curriculum, yeah it is not easy! Through that time I was able to talk with my team and the VOA team; I learned they do a tremendous amount for the community and students because they want them to prosper. They even have places were the old lighthouse kids can do their laundry and they provide their students with a community garden and more. But the project became even more special when we got to interact with the children, we were able to do homework help and a field day. The field day was so fun, playing games like kickball, sponge race, and etc., I probably had more fun than they did. But, it was special to me because I don't know how often they get to participate in activities like that. All of them looked so happy for us to be there, I hope even for the few hours I got to spend with them I impacted them in some way.

Shreveport's Lighthouse

Hello everyone,

I am Sherita Donald, a student at the University of Memphis. I am Senior studying Business Management as a major with a Chemistry minor. Today, we served in Shreveport, Louisiana. This was my first time in the city, and I've been excited about visiting since I found out this was a destination on the trip. It was only 3 hours from our first destination in Greenville, MS.

Working with Volunteers of America has been a blessing. Our main contact, Tricia, is really energetic and welcoming. They provided us with breakfast and lunch and were accommodating to our every need. During the first part of our day, we worked at Volunteers of America Lighthouse. This is an after school program that provides homework help, healthy snacks, and educational as well as physical activities for youth. It is free for the students who can be anywhere between the ages of 5 to 18, although most of the students that attend are in grades K-8.

During the first part of our day, we split up into 2 groups. The group I was a part of as responsible for general maintenance. We cleaned and organized the children's library, 2 closets, the maintenance closet, and 3 other rooms. Although our work wasn't elaborate, our group was more than willing to complete any and every task we received and also had a great time bonding with each other as this was our first time all together volunteering in the same group. One thing that amazed me about our time cleaning up was seeing how many resources the center has. One closet is full of games, crayons, markers, workbooks and playing cards. The library is equipped with an illustrious array of books for a child on an grade level to read. There is a community garden outside of the building that allowed the children to eat healthy snacks after they worked on homework.

It is encouraging to see how much the staff and people who donated the resources care about the
children. I sense that they know children are our future and are selflessly motivated to doing whatever they can to make even one child's future that much brighter. Even though I'm not from Shreveport, I am grateful for the opportunity to help this growing organization that is committed to helping our youth succeed. Just knowing that I contributed to a project that might not mean much to children, but helps take some pressure away from the staff so they can have more time helping the children serves as satisfaction in itself. If everyone was motivated and committed to helping people knowing he/she won't get anything in return, in what condition would this world be? Volunteers of America in Shreveport is the light in a dark place. It was an honor to work with this organization.

Volunteers of America & Travis Lighthouse, Tuesday, March 11, 2014.

     My name is Hallie Hargis and I am a freshman Biomedical Engineering major and Mathematical Science minor. I chose ASB to impact to community in a positive way while growing spiritually, emotionally, and mentally as a person. Today we woke up to a breakfast served at the Volunteers of America center where we are staying. Ms. Tricia served us donuts, go-gurt, muffins, and fruit. We then helped her unload donations into  hallway pantry. As we finished unloading we began to start packing ourselves into the vans to get to our destination at the Travis Lighthouse location of VOA in Northern Louisiana-Shreveport. At Travis Lighthouse we split up into two groups to complete cleaning tasks and a grammar system that can help kids for up to 5 years depending on how long it takes them to learn and comprehend the English and grammar. After the tasks were completed we held an hour and a half field day outside the Travis Lighthouse center. Before the kids were allowed to go outside to field, other ASB members and myself helped them do and complete their homework. We had 5 stations set up for the kids ranging from kickball to hula-hoop lines. Today was a very rewarding day. To see the kids bright smiles and how happy they were to see us really inspired me to keep volunteering and impacting lives.

Day 2: Shreveport, LA

Hello ! My name is Tiffany Vann. I am a Junior psychology major and Spanish minor. It has been an honor to come down to the state of Louisiana and serve the Shreveport community. The Volunteers of America representatives have shown great hospitality to us. From providing meals, a place to stay, and making our stay comfortable and warm. Our team split that morning, some of us cleaned, while others worked on a education project. The bonding between both groups was wonderful. I learned more about the other people in my group that I never thought I would know. The environment at Lighthouse was so welcoming. They provided a delicious, healthy lunch for us. After our tasks were just about done, we gathered together to plan a field day for the children. Some of the local volunteers helped us as well. The kids were so enthusiastic about getting to know us. From snack time to homework time to field day, they were very special kids of whom I will never forget. I'm glad we could take time to see them and to also help out the representative of Volunteers of America.  When the kids stated we rock at the end that was the icing on the cake!

ASB Staycation Day 2

                Hello, my name is Israel Polo. It’s a wonder how many things in this world, let alone our city, we do not know. This day has been one that has opened my eyes to treasures in the city I inhabit. I have been blessed to see this city with a new perspective along with my new friends. From the community service work to the city gazing adventure in downtown Memphis, day two of ASB staycation has been one of the most amazing and culturally eye opening.

               Our day began with a tour of downtown. First we began at the luxurious Peabody hotel. Here our group gathered around the fountain of the lobby to see the march of the ducks. During the introduction, our guide told us of the historical significance this event has had within the century. I have heard that there are other grand hotels that duplicate this event but it was wonderful to be at where the tradition began. To my surprise they don’t march out of the elevator but run. I could barely take a photo of them they were so fast! Next we followed our noses to the smell of food being cooked at the Trolley stop Market. Here we had the most amazing food this diner had to offer. The food was delicious and would be a place I would return with friends or family. Of course I had to taste their best burger and it did the job of satisfying my appetite and then some. This place was indeed the Trolley Stop Market because just outside was our trolley. We rode on a restored trolley that had been used since the 70's. This ride was one of the most memorable I would ever take. From the old wood to the steel tracks, this ride was a unique experience. The next stop delighted us with the scenic view of the Memphis from the 17^th floor of the Madison hotel. This view of downtown was amazing and it is a destination that we will have to go to again and again. Ending up on Beale Street, we indulged in homemade soda floats from A. Schwarz. Here we learned that they had opened up in the 1800's and built its rafters from the remains of a stalled barge on the Mississippi. The business had once been named the biggest retailer in Memphis.

                The next part of our day was a culturally engaging experience. We got to go to the Rock and Soul Museum and got to see the famous side of Memphis. The music that had emerged from this city had finally reveled it history. This museum explained the diverse hub that Memphis encompassed with people from all walks of life. This led to the mixing of music from people from different race and creeds that helped build the foundation for Memphis as a musical hotspot. Today I learned that music was the gateway to the unity and bonding of this city. Our Final stop was St. John Methodist Church. Here we all got to work together to provide a dinner meal for those in the community that needed it. Surprisingly, we were all placed with great responsibility than I thought we would. All supplies were provided to us by our host, Mrs. Rhodes, and we were to create a meal using our talents in the kitchen. We were placed with great responsibility to feed people and their friends and family. With all our group effort, we successfully cooked, portioned, and distributed a course that was satisfying cooking it as it was watching our guests enjoy it. This opened my eyes to realize that group effort is all we need to tackle any project. The people living in poverty would enjoy a warm meal today and I hope to be there to cook again.

                Overall this day had everything you could ask for in a lifetime. Being in a van with great people and getting to know each other better, together we have seen another side of Memphis that we could have easily missed. This was a day to remember and I have no doubt that the next few days would be the same.