ECU students, staff gear up for alternative spring break experiences
NOTE TO MEDIA
Email or call Tara Kermiet at kermiett16@ecu.edu, 252-328-1554 (office), 412-974-7363 (cell) for specific site contact information before heading to a spring break location.
SUGGESTED COVERAGE DAYS
Greenville – Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon includes community garden work. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon include tutoring with youth. Wednesday morning will be a beautification project at Operation Sunshine.
Washington, N.C. – Tuesday includes service with the Underground Railroad Museum and Daughters of Worth.
Atlantic Beach – Monday morning includes shoreline cleanup while Monday afternoon will be living shoreline construction. Tuesday morning will be Cape Carteret pond cleanup and Tuesday afternoon will be rain garden maintenance at a local elementary school.
Wilmington: Monday through Thursday serving with the Habitat for Humanity Cape Fear organization.
Raleigh – Tuesday afternoon includes service with World Relief Durham. Wednesday morning includes voter registration at Wake Technical Community College. Friday morning includes a Census 2020 kickoff event with the N.C. Census Coalition.
Asheville – Monday morning includes trash cleanup of the River Arts District and invasive plant removal along a nearby stream. Monday afternoon will be testing water quality and sampling for macroinvertebrates in Hominy Creek. Tuesday morning, students will remove invasive plant species along Smith Mill Creek, followed by creek cleanup on Tuesday afternoon.
Columbia, South Carolina: Monday through Friday serving with the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice.
More than 75 students and staff from East Carolina University will spend spring break serving others in local communities across three states.
ECU’s Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement will partner with local community organizations to provide opportunities for students to address a variety of social causes through the Alternative Break Experience program.
ECU’s spring break begins this weekend. Classes will resume March 16.
In Greenville, ECU students on a “staycation” will work Saturday, March 7, through Wednesday, March 11, with community partners focused on youth and nutrition. Students will stay at Peace Presbyterian Church and will serve in local community gardens, tutor and mentor youth, and volunteer with the Police Athletic League and the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Coastal Plain.
This is also the 10th year that ECU students will volunteer with the N.C. Coastal Federation to do environmental work including oyster habitat restoration and project maintenance in Carteret County and Atlantic Beach. Students will bunk at Camp Albemarle from Sunday, March 8, through Thursday, March 12.
Additional trips will take students to: Asheville and Atlanta to work with the LGBTQ community; Columbia, South Carolina, to work with youth in the juvenile justice system; Raleigh, to explore citizenship; Washington, North Carolina, to work with women leading change; Washington, D.C., to address youth empowerment and urban development; and to Wilmington, to work on homelessness and hunger. A group of 13 Honors College students also will be traveling to Asheville to participate in cleanups and maintenance with RiverLink, a nonprofit environmental group.
“We are excited to continue this long-standing tradition at ECU, adding some new experiences this year in Raleigh and Wilmington,” said Tara Kermiet, associate director in the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement. “Our partnership with the centers and offices within intercultural affairs and the Honors College help us provide such enriching learning experiences for our students.”
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Greenville, NC 27858
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Phone: 252-328-6481
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Contact: Tara Kermiet, associate director Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement, kermiett16@ecu.edu, 412-974-7363 (cell), 252-328-1554 (office)