UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Student Leadership and Involvement, a unit in the division of Student Affairs, offers the Penn State Alternative Breaks (PSAB) program by providing opportunities for students to learn about themselves, others and the world around them through service. PSAB offers trips throughout the year, coinciding with Penn State’s scheduled breaks, which include Fall Alternative Breaks (Thanksgiving) and Alternative Spring Breaks.
Each alternative break program is designed to help sustain personal growth and reflection, foster active citizenship, and immerse scholars in a new community.
“The [Alternative Break] trips are designed to include impactful volunteer projects, community exploration, and lasting relationships between participants,” said PSAB executive board member Joseph Wolf.
For spring break 2025, PSAB organized trips to three different locations. One location was at Lewes, Delaware, where students focused on housing insecurity. Those that participated in this trip explored housing insecurity with Habitat for Humanity in Sussex County Delaware. Groups of students traveled from campus to the construction site, assisting with various phases on each site, exterior and interior work, setting windows and doors, as well as Tyvek-wrapping the home. One day was spent participating in the annual Women’s Build initiative, which is a part of Habitat for Humanities that helps support women or any persons who want to learn how to build and/or repair homes. Wolf added that in his time in Lewes he assisted in building housing for those in need and learned a lot about construction through this process.
The second location landed a group of 10 participants in Asheville, North Carolina, where they focused on disaster relief. This group assisted those impacted by Hurricane Helen, which wreaked havoc on the area in September 2024. The students started out their alternative break helping CORE Response with disaster cleanups at a manufactured housing community. There were also days spent assisting at the Manna Food Bank, planting new tree saplings for the GreenWorks weekly tree giveaway initiative, as well as helping Mercy Chefs prepare meals for local residences and schools.
The third and final location was Lynchburg, Virginia, where students focused on environmental sustainability. There were a variety of community service projects provided by HumanKind, Lynchburg Grows, and Lynchburg Parks & Recreation. HumanKind asked students to assist at an Early Head Start education center for disadvantaged youth. Participants were asked to deep-clean all youth chairs in the facility as well as the windows and toddler play areas. They also picked up litter on the surrounding property. The students spent the next two days volunteering in a seasonal start-up effort with Lynchburg Grows where they pruned rose bushes and created a new pollinator garden. Their efforts ultimately benefits the vegetable farming operations which provides job opportunities for those with disabilities and offers fresh produce for low-income families. The last two days of the trip were spent creating a two-mile walking trail through a wooded area, which will now allow nearby residents to connect to a large community trail system.
Students who are interested in learning more about PSAB, whether participating in future trips or acting as Site Leaders, can contact alternativebreaks@psu.edu. PSAB is also always looking for additional Penn State faculty or staff seeking new experiences to serve as trip advisers.