Ninjas, Rakers, Sanders

Hi! Our names are Rachel and Brittany, and we are first-year students on Alternative Spring Break in Atlanta. We have had so much fun so far; today we went to a Methodist Church in North Decatur where we did yard work and sanded dry wall. The building is going to be used for a recovery center and homeless shelter.

When we first arrived it was snowing outside and freeeeeezing. We had to wait a little bit for instructions, so Heather taught us all how to play a “ninja game” and some kind of puzzle/mind game. It got pretty competitive.

Our group was divided into two parts: the sanders and the rakers. We filled ¾ of a giant dumpster full of leaves, cleared a playground for children and built some serious muscle mass. At one point, Rachel, Heather, Kelsey and Brittany built a human chain to carry garbage cans of leaves to the dumpster. It was very efficient. We also learned the proper techniques of dumpster diving: you must use the ladder for easy entry. Heather spent a lot of time in there…

The sanders also had a hard work day: they wore masks while using their electric sanders and were covered in white by the end of the day. We finished the entire lawn of the building and playground and sanded a whole room. All in all, it was a very successful, rewarding and fun day.

We’re looking forward to the rest of our trip!!

Love,
Rachel Brannen & Brittany Tucker
Class of 2013

Freemason Removal Project

Bearing witness to some admirable marathon runners as we made the journey to our first taste of ASB servitude, the group was filled with anxiety (some still half asleep) and excitement. We weren’t quite sure what to expect from this day of service, though once we got to our destination we soon learned that sheet rock and FRP would become our best friends for the majority of the day. From our arrival until lunch, most of us created a human chain in which we transported scrap sheet rock to the dumpster, an experience that was full of friend making and the small-talk kinds of conversations that help acquaintances get to know each other. While this group transported the sheet rock, a smaller portion of the group cleaned up and swept the inside of the halfway built children’s home. After these tasks came to sure success quicker than Andrew Hornick can say “Swag-tastic”, we moved on to lunch where Popeye’s chicken was the source of all our hearts’ contentedness.

After a healthy dose of chicken and Megan Noltemeyer’s brainchild game of “Move Your Butt”, we moved on to Elizabeth’s favorite part of the day, FRP. None of us really knew what FRP stood for, though Elizabeth Wisman made the educated postulation of “Freemason Removal Project”. For some reason I think she was wrong. Essentially, FRP is a sheet-like material that covers walls to make them more durable and better equipped to withstand damage. Our goal in this task was to transport the FRP from outside the children’s home to the inside. After this was complete, we wrapped up our day and headed back to our humble part-time abode. Some valuable reflections and lesson’s learned later, our day of service was complete and we moved on to other activities for the rest of the day…

Ben Boone
Class of 2013

A Marathon Day

Hellooo! My name is Raeann Stengel and this is my very first service trip. Its been an exciting adventure so far. Today we woke up ready to work. However, some of us woke up a little earlier, and therefore a little grumpier than they had planned. We had a small problem with alarms this morning. Its one of those problems you wouldn’t actually anticipate. Just take a moment to imagine a huge room filled with bunk beds and each person has their phone or iPod right next to their head set to a different time. I can’t say that I wasn’t guilty of perhaps letting mine go off for 5 minutes, and asking, “Who’s alarm is that?!” before having three people whisper-yell at me, “ITS YOURS, TURN IT OFF!” Whoopsies!

Once we finally got on the road for our 15 minute trip, we realized that the marathon that had streets crossed off throughout the city might actually be a problem. An hour and 15 minutes later, we arrived at our destination. I actually had absolutely no complaints, because I feel like I got a wonderful tour of some of the most beautiful areas in Atlanta. A lot of the areas reminded me of areas in Louisville.

Once we arrived at the site, we got right to work. We moved drywall for several hours until it was completely cleaned out. Then we picked up all of the debris and threw it in a dumpster, that was being expertly organized by a group of dedicated volunteers.

Once of my favorite parts was the end, when we all grabbed some Sharpies and tagged the wall. We got lots of pictures, as I’m sure you will see on here, with everything from our fraternity/sorority, to our hall, to our sports team. It was a good time. We came back, had a little meeting, and now I’m off to see the area called Little Five Points, which apparently is adorable and really fun, and I believe it, because that’s how I would describe the parts of Atlanta that I’ve seen so far.
Well, that’s all for now, and I’ll hand this off to someone else to document their trip.

Raeann Stengel
Class of 2013

Swagtastic

My name is Andrew Hornick, I’m a sophomore at Centre College participating in Alternative Spring Break 2010. Today is the day that we embarked upon our epic journey south towards Atlanta. For the first step of our trip, we were carried on a bus that can only be described as swagtastic. Fully purpled out in our bus, we arrived in Atlanta in some serious style. Upon arrival we were introduced to the place that we will call home for the next six days. I’ll describe the setup for those of you out there in blogland: our men’s quarters are in the basement of a converted church, which we immediately dubbed “the suite,” while the women are housed upstairs in what was formerly the sanctuary. The middle floor is the dining area, and our showers are located in a trailer called “the rubber ducky project.”

Our first afternoon was spent touring a vibrant young neighborhood in ATL. We were able to meet Kwanzaa, the city councilman from the district, who was very welcoming and even invited us to friend him on Facebook or follow his tweets. His chief of staff, Jay, then led us on a tour across the neighborhood, which is the birthplace of MLK Jr. Jay was filled with intriguing facts and fascinating people. The socioeconomic factors that have caused the neighborhood to be revitalized as it has are truly fascinating.

We definitely are roughing it with our living conditions, but we are collectively learning to deal with our surroundings and be grateful for what we have. The trip should prove to be a great learning experience.

One last pearl of wisdom:
“Ain’t nothin’ but good comes from school”
Mrs. Thompson, amazing Atlanta resident

The farthest south I’ve ever been and yet it feels like a taste of home.

Sleep evades me as I peek through tinted window of our snazzy purplish-pink tour bus at the skyscrapers that line the sky. The rows of cars, the buildings stories tall, the noise of traffic all remind me of Boston. We have arrived. We are in Atlanta, Georgia and our first stop is the volunteer shelter where we will be housed for the next 5 days. We will not be staying in a hotel, nor a hostel, nor a camp but rather a relief shelter. This shelter is the same shelter that provided aid to those in desperate need during Hurricane Katrina and its ambiance gives us a sense of history, of humanity, compassion and empathy. After introductions and ground rules, we take our first steps around the back roads and neighborhoods of Atlanta. We visited a spunky 88-year-old Miss Thompson who introduced us to Atlanta’s sassy side, we visited the birthplace and tomb of the honorable Martin Luther King Jr., the Ebenezer Baptist Church, Freedom Park, Freedom Hall and experienced the various robust characters of surrounding neighborhoods.

After a delicious yet healthy meal of pasta, salad and unspeakably scrumptious broccoli cheese casserole for dinner, a couple friends and I headed outside to explore downtown Atlanta. After 2 hours of walking through a maze of tall buildings, blossoming trees and continuous cars we finally reached our destination: downtown Atlanta. Here, we found booming Mama Mia music blasting from a local club, a row of Jamie Foxx pictures staring at us in passing, learned that “gyro” can be pronounced “year-o” or “hero” or “gye-ro”, and belly laughed with a mix of old and new friends among many other things. Just from this one night I made unforgettable memories with a wonderful group of friends in uncharted land. From this small taste of Atlanta I can already tell this experience will be an adventure.

~Liz Ko

Ready to Go!

Hi! I’m Meredith Ranney and I’m a sophomore at Centre College and I’m from Owensboro, Ky. I play varsity soccer for Centre and I am a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority. I’m really excited to be going on Alternative Spring Break to Atlanta, but I have yet to start packing. I’m more of a last minute packer. Hopefully I’ll be ready in the morning at 8:30 am when we leave!

I can’t wait until we leave though! Several of my fellow soccer players are going with us so I can’t wait to get closer to them too. I’ve been on several mission trips before and have loved every minute of them, hopefully this trip we’ll be just the same. I’ll get to meet new people and make an impact in the less fortunate communities in Atlanta. I know this will be a rewarding experience and I can’t wait to get it started!

Talk to you soon!

T'was the Night Before Atlanta......

Hey Everyone! I’m Troy Cotton. I have lived in Louisville, KY my entire life and I am involved in Greek Life and Centre Orchestra here at Centre. While I feel like I am involved on campus, I haven’t dedicated a large amount of time towards community service since I have been at Centre. I have done tutoring, and other activities around the Danville community, but once the opportunity to travel to another city to do service was presented, I couldn’t pass it up. I know that my spring break stories were going to vary from the typical college kid, but I am excited to experience the diversity.

Some of the main things I hope to accomplish on ASB are larger than just doing service for the community, but developing a sense of responsibility for the community in our collective group. I hope that we can collaborate with the other colleges and create a mutual learning experience.

I’m in the process of packing right now, and I am getting more excited as I pack each additional shirt and other items. I’m trying not to over pack, because I have a tendency to commit that sin. I know this trip is a little about minimalism, so I am trying to be conservative about the amount I pack. I can’t wait to embark on this trip and start getting my hands dirty!