Current Sites
ASB Spring 2011
Click HERE to access the online application.
Submit your applications by Wed, February 2nd at midnight.
Operation Breakthrough - Kansas City, MO
Issue: Children in Poverty
1 day drive, $250
Operation Breakthrough cares for more than 600 children between the ages of 6 and 18 each day, more than 98% of them below the federal poverty guidelines. Nearly a quarter are homeless or near homeless, living in homeless shelters or abandoned buildings. Another quarter live in foster care or other care facilities due to abuse, neglect, or other family crisis. Participants will have the opportunity to work in the preschool classrooms, hear guest speakers of Operation Breakthrough, participate in reflective activities, and assist with miscellaneous/general projects determined by the Volunteer Department.
Issue: Adults and Children with Disabilities - Springfield, MO
1 day drive, $250
Through sports training and competition, this organization helps children and adults with disabilities build self-esteem, self-confidence, and social skills. The organization teaches decision-making skills, team skills, appropriate behaviors, and the feeling of success, with a main focus on life skills. Participants will be able to work one-on-one and in small groups with the athletes in many different athletic and life skill-oriented opportunities.
Central Community Ministries - Greenville, SC
Issue: Community Development
2 day drive, $250
Central Community Ministries spends time in communities in the city of Greenville, SC developing relationships and identifying individual community needs. Collaboration with volunteers from local churches, schools, individuals, and corporations help them meet those needs. Volunteers may have a chance to work on projects including community block parties, home construction and rehabilitation, soup kitchens, nursing home assistance, and sports camps.
Philabundance - Philadelphia, PA
Issue: Food Poverty
2 day drive, $250
Food poverty, the lack of access to nutritious, affordable food, is present in every community. Philabundance provides food to approximately 65,000 people per week through direct services including food kitchens, food cupboards, and senior centers. The organization serves low income residents at risk of hunger and malnutrition, those with disabilities and/or mental illness, and families. Participants will work in the Hunger Relief Center sorting and packing food and at the Community Food Center and farmer's market stocking shelves and helping community members choose the food they need.
Mission: Wolf - Westcliffe, CO
Issue: Animal Rescue
2 day drive, $300
Mission: Wolf currently cares for up to 40 captive-born wolves and wolf-dog crosses. They first meet the needs of the wolves-food, water, living space, companionship, and privacy. Education is another important task, which is accomplished through ambassador tours, experiential education, and Mission: Wolf's Wolf-Dog-Help program. Participants will do a variety of work from helping feed animals, to cleaning pens, building fences and buildings, and chopping wood.
The Pittsburgh Project - Pittsburgh, PA
Issue: Community Development
1 day drive, $250
As part of an effort to develop leaders and uphold the dignity of vulnerable homeowners, The Pittsburgh Project runs several initiatives to make neighborhoods in the Pittsburgh area stronger, safer, and more peaceful. The staff works year-round to operate a series of afterschool and summer programs for over 450 urban children, to deploy nearly 3,000 people annually to perform free home repairs for Pittsburgh's elderly homeowners, and to spearhead economic development and job training efforts in the Pittsburgh neighborhoods. Participants will have the opportunity to help in the urban farm and garden (weather dependent), work on remodeling-type projects in the homes of some Pittsburgh residents, and assist with small projects with the kids in the afterschool program.
Lower Nine - New Orleans, LA
Issue: Natural Disaster Relief
2 day drive, $300
Unfortunately, the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, LA was one of the neighborhoods hit hardest by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and rebuilding in the area has lagged behind that of other areas as a result of poverty, devastation, and local, state, and federal government inaction. Lower Nine is dedicated to training residents and volunteers in the Lower Ninth Ward in the numerous skills necessary to bring the historic neighborhood back to life in the wake of the recent natural disasters. Participants will work with community members to help rebuild houses in the neighborhood.
Issue: Affordable Housing - Covington, KY
1 day drive, $250
With the support of their numerous volunteers, as well as corporate and community partners, this organization builds and rehabilitates homes in communities in northern Kentucky, preparing them for participants of their homeownership program. Once accepted to the program, applicants work with this organization to determine their housing needs and establish a leasing agreement. They receive credit counseling, education, and support, with the ultimate goal of purchasing the property from this organization. Participants will be working on construction or rehabilitation.
Hope House - Memphis, TN
Issue: Community Development
1 day drive, $250
Hope House works to improve the quality of life of HIV-impacted children and their families by addressing their educational, social, psychological, and health needs. Participants will have the chance to work on projects with the children, organize donations, and make care packages, as well as help with a 5K fundraiser. They will also work in the food pantry, interact with clients, and help prepare and serve hot dinners to clients and their caregivers at the "Feast For Friends" dinner.
La Casa - Goshen, IN
Issue: Affordable Housing
1 day drive, $150
LaCasa works with individual and community partners, striving to create safe, attractive, and economically stable neighborhoods. In 2009, Goshen, IN received a grant from the federal government to work with the Indiana Housing Authority and LaCasa to improve neighborhoods ruined by foreclosures and vacant, abandoned, and uninhabitable homes. Participants will help renovate the 19 houses that are part of this Neighborhood Stabilization Program, doing work that includes pulling out carpeting, painting, mudding drywall, and many other jobs.
Cumberland Trail - Crossville, TN
1 day drive, $250
Cumberland Trail is an ambitious hiking trail project under development in eastern Tennessee. When completed, the trail will extend 300 miles from its northern terminus in the Cumberland Gap National Park (KY) to its southern terminus at the Chickamauga Chattanooga National Military Park on Signal Mountain just outside Chattanooga, TN. Participants will help save, protect, and create the Trail, one of the last unbroken greenways in Tennessee, and the first Linear State Park by using hand tools to clear a natural path along the trail corridor. Participants will also enjoy scenic view sheds, waterways, and rare fauna as they work on the trail.
Natchez Children's Home - Natchez, MS
Issue: Children in Poverty
2 day drive, $250
Natchez Children's Home provides a safe, stable, healing environment for children from families in crisis by recruiting and training foster parents and overseeing placement of children in those settings. The organization also partners with Catholic Charities to provide a pre-school day treatment program, as well as therapeutic counseling services to children and families. Participants will assist with maintenance on campus (including painting, repairs, and gardening), as well as working hands-on with the pre-school day treatment students and helping sort and organize donations in the thrift shop.
Issue: Animal Rescue - St. Augustine, FL
2 day drive, $300
Created as a rescue center for unwanted exotic animals, this organization works closely with Florida Fish and Wildlife, taking in unwanted exotic animals as an alternative to euthanasia. An important goal of the reserve is to educate the public about exotic animal ownership and to prevent future animal abuse. Participants will assist with various husbandry duties, including cage cleaning, diet preparation, and landscaping, and will also accompany tours to make sure that guests do not venture too close to the animal habitats. It will be an excellent opportunity to learn how to properly care for exotic animals, including lions, tigers, leopards, and wolves.
