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National Non-Profit Helps Colleges Across the Country Volunteer.

College students look forward to a ritual three times a year: school breaks. A cultural movement has gained momentum in the last decade, in which students spend these breaks volunteering rather than partying – called alternative breaks. This movement has been spearheaded by a non-profit organization called Break Away.
Break Away is a very small grassroots organization. Officially only Jill Piacitelli, the Director, is on their payroll - but Break Away has a host of volunteers that pour their heart and soul into a cause they believe in. Dan and Molly McCabe spend a large amount of time helping in the office, working on the website, and planning conferences, and updating information packets. This past summer Sam Giacobozzi was an intern for Break Away, spending about three months in their offices (then in Tallahassee, Florida) doing administrative work, and helping to plan for three summer leadership conferences called The Alternative Breaks Citizenship Schools (ABCs). Through EMU, Sam has been on nine alternative breaks, and will be attending her tenth and final break as a student this winter.
The ABCs take a traditional leadership conference and add in alternative break elements. Each one of the conferences tackles a specific social issue. Break Away trainers and interns spend time educating attendees to prepare them for four days of community service they perform about said issue. This year Break Away held two ABCs. The first was located in Chicago focusing on women’s issues, which had forty-two participants. The second was in San Francisco working with HIV/AIDS agencies, which had fifty-two participants. The leadership side of the conference covers marketing, fundraising, and the Eight Quality Components:
➢ Strong Direct Service, giving the volunteers an opportunity to get hands on experience in the specific social issue
➢ Orientation, giving the participants a greater understanding of the organizations involved
➢ Education, making students aware of both the local culture and social issue being dealt with
➢ Training, preparing the breakers with the skills needed for the work to be done
➢ Reflection, a structured session during the trip to help the students mentally and emotionally process their experiences
➢ Reorientation, post break meetings to give participants a chance to continue their work and experience back in their local community
➢ Diversity, a broad range of people should be involved
➢ Alcohol and Drug Free trips, to help keep the minds of volunteers on the task.
Break Away also assists chapter schools by keeping and maintaining a database of possible sites, which informs the program coordinators of the location of the site, the service involved, if housing is provided, and who the contact for the site is. For more information on Break Away, visit alternativebreaks.org.