Leaders: Maryam Dastrang '03 and Amber McNett '03

The Boston group will be working with two different organizations over the course of break. The first week, our group will work with the Reach Out And Read program that works with sick children, connecting them with volunteers who read to them as they wait, sometimes for hours, for medical attention. The second week we will be working with the American Anti-Slavery Group, an organization that works to abolish modern slavery and all forms of bondage across the world, including in America where even now, according to recent CIA reports and human rights watch organizations, over 50,000 slaves are trafficked every year. This includes children, as well as women who are tricked into coming to this country and forced into 'sex slavery.' We will be helping the AASG to plan a Freedom March for April 7.

Leaders: Ruthie Anderson '03 and Chuck Warpehoski '01

The focus of this Alternative break trip will be poverty issues in Denver, CO. We will be staying in a church in the ethnically diverse Five Points neighborhood, which is one of Denver's poorest areas. Although poor, Five Points is reasonably safe and there is easy access to public transportation from where we will be staying. We will be working with several organizations (to be determined) on small and large projects in Five Points and other parts of Denver. Possible projects include working in food banks, community gardens, and free dining halls.

Leaders: Bridie Roberts '01 and Sharyn Routh '01

During the first week of our trip to sunny Florida, we will be working for St. John's River Water Management, an organization that has several districts throughout the state and is dedicated to restoring and preserving the waters of Florida and the fauna and wildlife that depend on them. We will be working specifically at the St. Sebastian Inlet, on the Atlantic coast of Florida, halfway between Vero and Cocoa beaches. This particular area works for the preservation of Manatees and rare woodpeckers. During our stay, we will work on preserving trails, paint and maintain support structures, and a variety of outdoor activities, all while staying on the river in a great house donated to us by the organization. In our second week of activities we will be working for the American Red Cross chapter of Brevard County doing community education. Our time will be spent in a mix of HIV/AIDS work with a local private organization and water safety and disaster preparation education in the public schools. Every year, co untless children are injured or killed while playing in or around water and during tropical storms. The Red Cross has a great need for individuals who can provide an education program for the kids. We will receive full training from the Red Cross there, and AIDS/HIV awareness and prevention education here in Iowa before we leave.

Leaders: Sarah Gettings '02 and Peter Lavelle '02

For the first week of our trip, we plan to work with the Friends of P-Patch on a community gardening project in the city. Specifically, we will be working to construct new vegetable gardens for use by immigrants in need of supplemental income. For the second week, we will work with the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods on social welfare issues. Sometime during the two weeks, we plan to camp out near the coast or on the San Juan Islands. We will probably be living in a church basement in the city and will use public transportation to get to and from our work sites.