Upcoming Alternative Break Opportunities!

We just wrapped our ASB trips with our Post Trip meeting tonight and seeing all of the participant's growth was wonderful! Some amazing stories were shared from all the trips. As ASB wraps (but don't forget about post-trip service) there are still many ways to stay involved with the Alternative Break Program. Alternative Breaks doesn't end when you get back to Knoxville. Active Citizenship continues for the rest of your life! Keep that Alt Break spirit alive with us. Check out the many opportunities below.

1. Serve in Knoxville on your theme!

There are so many organizations in Knoxville working on the themes of our trips this year! To find volunteering opportunities check out Volunteer East Tennessee and Sign Up to Serve which is the CLS's calendar of service events. Also, there will be a Community Partner Panel Monday, March 27th in Panhellenic at 5:30 where you can meet the volunteer coordinators from organizations relating to all the ASB trips!

2. Active Citizenship Week

This Community Partner Panel is the first day of Active Citizen Week which is full of amazing events for all our Alt Breakers! If you've ever been on a break trip you are welcome! The schedule of events is in the figure on the left. Please RSVP for the Banquet on Friday, March 31st at 5:30  here. Nominate someone who has shown the spirit of an Active Citizen here. For the Day of Service on Saturday, April 1st at 9 am RSVP here! The deadline is March 29th. We can't wait to celebrate and serve with you all!

3. Apply to be an ABL! 

ABL applications are open now! Apply here. You do not have to have been on an Alternative Break trip before to apply. Help continue the tradition of Alternative Breaks at UT. This is one of the most rewarding and challenging leadership positions at UT and chance to help create a better Knoxville and world. An information session about being an ABL will be in Panhellenic Building at 5:30 on Tuesday, March 28th. Come out and have all your questions answered! Applications close March 30th. 

4. Alternative Break Local

Haven't had a chance to experience that Alternative Break magic? Want to serve in the Great Smoky Mountains? Celebrate Earth Day and spend the weekend serving and camping with fellow students. The trip is April 21st-23rd. Apply here! Applications close March 30th. 

Alternative Spring Break is Going Strong

Day 1 of ASB down; 5 days to go!

The spring break trips have completed one day of service and are onto day two! They have had some awesome service experiences, such as Gender Issues and Modern Inequalities helping People Against Rape prepare for their event Take Back the Night, an event to support sexual and domestic violence survivors. All the trips have created blogs so we can all keep up with the amazing work they are doing. Check them out in the sidebar!

The trip leaders have worked for almost an entire year to create these service experiences for their participants and are creating meaningful, reflective dialogue about their service theme. The Food Justice and Security trip has been working hard at community gardens and food banks to help combat the health problems of food deserts. All five of the trips are going to have some powerful experiences and share them with you through their blog.

This continues the 24-year tradition of Alternative Breaks at UT! The map below shows the history of the entire Alternative Break program and all the cities we have visited! If you want to read more about any of these trips, most have blogs further down on the sidebar. See the amazing work we have been doing for 24 years! 

Alternative Spring Break 2017

This year we are sending out five Alternative Spring Break to lead and serve in local communities on a variety of themes. We are so excited to see these trips impact the communities they are serving and how the participants can bring back what they have learned to Knoxville.

Animal Outreach focuses on the symbiotic relationship between people and the animals we encounter.

Wealth Distribution Awareness goes in-depth on how poverty, education, and justice intersect and contribute to the continuing cycle.

Youth Development highlights the disparities among childhood experience.

Gender Issues and Modern Inequalities focuses on the intersection of gender, sexual orientation, and racial identities and how that shapes modern inequalities.

Food Justice and Security, open to honors students, explores how food deserts contribute to current public health crises.

These 5 trips will bring us to 118 Alternative Break trips since the program’s beginning in 1993!     Students who went on ASB 2016 collectively served 2,093 hours over ASB, which is like giving the community partners $48,285.51

Keeping Up With AFB

As our trips departed early this morning, over 90 students head out to serve communities all over the south east. Our trip leaders have been working on these trips since April and now our teams are heading to impact the world! Check out where we are going!

We can't wait to hear all of their stories and you can follow along with their trips too! Follow along on Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #UTKAFB2016. We have six trips focusing on six awesome themes. Follow their stories as they get to know an issue and a community. All of our trips have individual blogs where they will document their experiences. And you can check them out right here in the sidebar!

AFB is underway!

On Tuesday, September 13th, we kicked off another year of Alternative Breaks!

Our AFB trips met together for the first time. All the participants and leaders met as one group to really understand what makes Alternative Breaks so wonderful. Then participants met in their teams and got to know each other and their trips better.

1. The 8 (+1) Components of a Quality Break Trip

Participants were introduced to what makes an alternative break trip a break trip through one of the 8 Components, Orientation. They learned more about our 23 years of Alternative Breaks here at UT and how they fit into the Tennessee Tradition over 100+ break trips!

While Alternative Break Trips across the country use the 8 Components, we added our own 9th component of simple living, which creates a unique immersion experience for all our participants. Simple living is how we structure our trips by simulating living at the poverty line. Trip leaders find zero cost housing and spend $6 a day on food per participant, $1 for breakfast $2 for lunch and $3 for dinner.

Want to know more about the 8 (+1) Components of a Quality Break Trip go here!

2. The Active Citizen Continuum

Participants were also introduced to the Active Citizen Continuum, which shows the path from a member to an Active Citizen. For different issues, a person's membership can be in different areas. 

Where would you place yourself for women's rights? or environmental issues? 

Participants were also asked where they fall on the continuum for their trips theme and participants ranged from member to active citizen! Growth is always possible, even for active citizens, and we can't wait to see how participants learn and grow on their trips.

3. Their Trips Theme! 

Then participants went to meet in their individual trips and get to know their themes even better. There are six AFB trips going out over Fall Break and we can't wait to see all the great work they accomplish for there community partners.

Where would you fall on the active citizen continuum for these themes? Which would you want to learn more about? 

Just wait and our trips will be reporting back about their experiences in blogs linked to this one! Just look right over here to the side bar ---> ---> --->

If you want to help support the Alternative Breaks Program come to our fundraiser Friday September 23rd from 5-9 PM at MAX AIR Trampoline Park and Jump for Alternative Breaks! 

Check out the Facebook event here! 

Top Five Reasons to Go on Alternative Fall Break

Top Five Reasons to Go on AFB:

Alternative Break trips are a part of the Center for Leadership and Service which seeks to educate and engage all students to lead and serve in the global community. Since 1993 we have sent over 100 trips to lead and serve in neighboring communities. Sound like fun? Here's five reasons you should go! 

1. Make new friends:

On Alternative Fall Break you will get to meet people from all walks of life who share the same goals and interests as you. You will make your own little Alt Break family and build relationships that will last more than your four years at UT!  

2. Learn about an issue facing our world and local Knoxville community:

Our AFB trips have some pretty awesome themes this year, ranging from Identity and Inclusion to Disabilities in the Workforce to Minority Youth. That is just the tip of the iceberg. You can read more about our awesome themes here! On top of this, your trip leaders will educate you on your theme before your trip. Then you can bring your experiences back to impact the Knoxville community.

3. Impact a community:

While these trips will be impactful for you, they can also transform a community. Last year, the economic impact of all our break trips was $77,826.01 for 3403 hours of service! Being able to work alongside our community partners and meet specific community needs significantly impacts the work these agencies are able to do. Something as simple as putting together HIV/AIDS testing packets to being able to paint a flood victim’s home can transform the work of that community partner.

4. Create positive social change:

The purpose of Alternative Breaks are to strengthen the communities we serve and create positive change. Our goal is to challenge the systems of injustice the we find in the world and work to make society better for everyone. It’s a lofty goal but one worth pursuing.  

5. Have fun!

Lastly, getting to spend all of fall break packed into UT vans, and gallivanting around a new place serving with your new best friends is a recipe for fun. You will bond through service and hard work and have a blast while doing it!

Are you ready to spend your fall break on AFB? Apply here! Want to learn more about the program first? Click here!

Alternative Spring Break 2016: By the Numbers!

Thank you to the trip leaders, staff learning partners, and all who made Alternative Spring Break 2016 a success! With your help, we were able to collectively serve 2,093 hours, which is like giving the community partners $48,285.51! (According to the "estimated value of volunteer time", $23.07)‪#‎UTKASB16‬