ECU students, staff to volunteer across North Carolina during alternative spring break
Students and staff from East Carolina University will spend spring break serving others in communities from the mountains to coastal North Carolina.
ECU’s Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement has partnered with community organizations in Asheville, Carteret County, Durham and Raleigh to provide opportunities for students to address a variety of social causes through the Alternative Break Experience (ABE).
ECU’s spring break begins this weekend. Classes will resume March 13.
The trips to Asheville and Durham are new this year. Asheville’s spring break experience is sponsored by the ECU Military and Veterans Resource Center and is for students who identify as a veteran and/or child or spouse of a veteran. Students will be working with staff at Veterans Restoration Quarters to help homeless veterans.
ECU’s Dr. Jesse R. Peel LGBTQ Center and the Women and Gender Office will lead a group of students in service activities that explore gender, feminism, LGBTQ history and women’s rights in Durham.
In its longest standing ABE partnership, ECU and the N.C. Coastal Federation have worked together for more than 10 years to give students the opportunity to explore environmental justice and impact. Students will construct oyster reefs and maintain nature trails in Carteret County, and will build a rain garden in Swansboro.
In Raleigh, ECU students will volunteer in areas related to the themes of active citizenship and democracy while exploring the three branches of government with visits to the N.C. governor’s mansion, General Assembly and Supreme Court.
Alternative Break Experiences are learning opportunities that immerse ECU community members in diverse environments that address social, economic, political, environmental, spiritual and cultural issues through the exchange of ideas, personal reflection, critical thinking and applications of academic concepts beyond the classroom. Participants are challenged to critically reflect on their role and ability to make lasting social change in local, regional and global communities.
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East Carolina University News Services
Howard House, 1001 E. Fifth Street
Greenville, NC 27858
ecunews@ecu.edu
Phone: 252-328-6481
news.ecu.edu
Contact: Lauren Howard, associate director of leadership and civic engagement, howardl16@ecu.edu, 513-324-6758
Note to media: Students will be in Carteret County, Durham and Raleigh from Sunday to Thursday, and in Asheville from Monday to Friday. Contact Lauren Howard at howardl16@ecu.edu or 513-324-6758 to connect with the ECU staff member at those locations.