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For some students, spring break is a chance to relax on a beach, or return home to see family and friends.

But for Widener senior Derrick Le, the week off is a perfect opportunity to give back.

Last year, Le traveled to Colorado through the university’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program, and helped build a house for a family who lost theirs in a flood.

The experience was so rewarding that Le wanted to repeat it. This spring break, he returned as a site leader for an ASB trip to California and helped repair a veteran’s home.

“It’s important to reach out to the community. It gives you a bigger sense of purpose,” said Le, a computer information systems major. “The leadership I’ve experienced throughout my years here at Widener made me want to help again.”

Le is one of more than 85 students who spent their spring break on university-sponsored service trips. Besides five domestic ASB programs to California, Colorado, Kentucky, and North and South Carolina, Widener ran international trips to Costa Rica, Honduras, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Though their destinations varied, the students were all driven to help others, experience new cultures, and expand their worldviews.

Widener has been participating in the national ASB program for nearly two decades, partnering with Habitat for Humanity to serve underdeveloped or low-income areas, or places affected by natural disaster.

“In some cases it’s the first time our students have been exposed to families who don’t have money to put a roof over their heads or food on a table,” said Jeanine Snow, director of student engagement. “This makes them open their eyes and see how to be effective in making change.”

The desire to help others and experience a different culture led a group of Widener students to the Caribbean island of Trinidad for spring break. There, they helped educate locals about the value of reusable grocery bags over single-use plastic ones.

Traveling with Professors Bretton Alvare and Nadine McHenry, the Widener students collaborated with local students and a food store chain, distributed information and reusable bags to businesses, and even met the country’s president.

“Working in a community you become part of that community,” said junior sociology major Emily Nice, who, along with the other participants, has been learning about Trinidad in Alvare’s “Rum, Rasta, and Revolution” class.

The group also visited a nesting ground for giant Leatherback turtles, and other sites significant to the island’s environmental health.

Sustainability was also the focus of the Presidential Service Corps (PSC) / Bonner Leader Program trip to Costa Rica, where students built raised beds and a compost station at an elementary school and helped teach English to the children. The group utilized Widener’s CARES21 hub, and helped build a sustainable garden there to serve as a model for local farmers.

PSC/Bonner Leaders are committed to responsible citizenship, performing 300 hours of community service in Chester annually. The Costa Rica trip was a chance to expand their reach.

“I am honored I get to go with a group of individuals dedicated to help and impact the lives of others,” said junior Aishah Dukes, a social work and criminal justice major.

Widener students carried the same mission to Honduras, where they helped local children improve their English skills, volunteered at an orphanage, and donated 73 pairs of shoes.

Whether domestic or international, the benefits of these spring break service opportunities can be profound, said Gretchen Mielke, assistant dean for civic engagement.  

“It’s a gift of a memorable experience that inspires you to keep connecting, to keep learning from diverse people, to continue to serve as active citizens throughout your life,” she said.