You Can Start Your Own Program
Here is the ultimate question: what happens if your college or university does not have an alternative/service break program? Sure, there are lots of other organizations you can go through, but wouldn’t it all just be a whole lot easier if your school had its own program, a homebase right on your very own campus? Well, here is the great news: you can start one.
The Miracle Organization–Break Away
That’s right–you can start your school’s very own alternative breaks program, all through one wonderful organization called Break Away. Break Away is a facilitator between a school and its service site/alternative break site. It currently has a relationship with about 140 different schools across the US, a number that is constantly changing since Break Away is continuously trying to get more schools to join their network. In conjunction, Break Away has developed a relationship with about 400 nonprofit organizations for which the schools can serve on their breaks. When a school is partnered with Break Away, the organization helps link the school to the nonprofit organizations in the geographical regions and service areas that it is interested in contributing to.
First Step
And here is where you come in as the person to develop this relationship between your school and the hundreds of nonprofits that Break Away works with. If you believe that your school would be better off with a service/alternative breaks program (as surely, every school would be), then you are invited to call a Break Away representative at (800) 903-0646. When you speak with a Break Away representative, you can chat in further detail about the first steps you should take, contacts you can develop, resources you should use, and all the details in-between. Ultimately, you can forge the relationship between your university and Break Away, greatly expanding the number of service opportunities open to students at your school.
Nonprofit Partnerships
Are you worried that Break Away does not have a partnership with a nonprofit suitable to the mission of your school? Well, erase that fear. Break Away’s 400 partnerships are all stored in a database, that is constantly–and I mean constantly–updated. Break Away is forever-vigilant in monitoring the changing tides of nonprofits, making sure that each partnership is one that fits in line with the goals and ideals of Break Away; forever scouring for new partnerships; and forever open to nonprofits reaching out to them to form relationships. You can also recommend a nonprofit that you think has potential to be a valuable partner, and Break Away can begin to initiate a relationship with them! Their partnerships are really ever-growing, and ever-strengthening.
Call Today!
Thus, if you find yourself pining for a service trip that your school does not offer, you can change that. Start today and call (800) 903-0646. The representatives there will be as happy to hear from you as you are happy to hear from them. And, as an added bonus for those who want to lead such adventures, Break Away provides semi-annual training for alternative break student leaders. Good luck and have fun!
***All information about Break Away provided by the lovely Samantha Giacobozzi, Programs Director for Break Away.***
Website of the day: Chariots of Fire
Tags: Break Away, Community, Environment, Local Volunteering, Service, Service Abroad, Service Trips, Spring Break, Starting your own service break, Volunteer, Volunteering, Winter Break
