FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 20, 2002
CONTACT: Carol Anderson
carol.anderson@emich.edu
734.487.4400

EMU STUDENTS WORK WITH CHILDREN, THE ENVIRONMENT
AND THE DISABLED DURING ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK

YPSILANTI -- It's time to pack the bags, leave campus and head for new places as
Eastern Michigan University students get ready for spring break.

More than 75 students will spend their weeklong vacation, Feb. 22 to March 2, at nine different sites, helping others as part of EMU's Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program. The University will host a send-off from McKenny Union for the volunteers Friday, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m.

"EMU students have participated in the Alternative Spring Break program since 1992 and  word of mouth helps the program grow and get better year after year," said EMU's Kelly McSween, ASB coordinator, VISION (Volunteers Incorporating Service Into Our Neighborhoods) Office. EMU's Alternative Spring Break program is a national student volunteer movement that partners with non-profit agencies across the country.

This year, the sites and activities are:
- St. Jude Children's Hospital (Memphis, Tenn.): Students organizing special events for children in Ronald McDonald and Target Houses.
-Center for Social Justice (Washington, D.C.): Students help with administrative aspects of center including marketing, advertising, accounting, crisis management and management.
-School for the Deaf and Blind (Spartanburg, S.C.): Students help teach life skills of running a house such as cooking, laundry and cleaning.
-Habitat for Humanity (Mobile, Ala.): Students help with new home construction and renovation.
-The Nature Conservatory (Hobe Sound, Fla.): Students help preserve native trees and sea turtles, and analyze erosion.
-United Cerebral Palsy (Nashville, Tenn.): Students build wheelchair ramps.
-Fischer Elementary School (New Orleans, La.): Students help teachers tutor children.
-The Living Center (Boston, Ma.): Students help serve meals and disinfect the HIV and AIDS support center.
-Bald Cypress Restoration Project (Hammond, La.): Students plant Cypress trees to restore lower water level.

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