Students Reflect on Dedicating Their Spring Break to Serving the Local Community

A group of seven students spent their spring break volunteering with community-based organizations, making a meaningful impact on the local community and learning about the importance and impact of service. Organized by the University’s Center for Student Engagement, Leadership, and Orientation (CSELO), the Alternative Spring Break program has been an engaging service opportunity for students since 2004.

Although the program was canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic, students spent their 2022 spring break volunteering for three local nonprofits: Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS), Connecticut Foodshare, and Habitat for Humanity.

“A group of dedicated undergraduate students volunteered their spring break to give back to the community through various time-sensitive projects and initiatives,” said Andrew Mayer, M.Ed., associate director for leadership development. “By emulating the behaviors and characteristics of servant leadership, the student volunteers demonstrated a commitment to the most vulnerable by serving three local nonprofits throughout the week. In addition to the positive impact students had by working with each nonprofit, they also formed new friendships within the group and learned about the value of serving those in need within our local community.”

Below, two student volunteers and the CSELO graduate intern for civic engagement who coordinated the program logistics, reflect on their experience.

Kiara Caruth ’25

I participated in Alternative Spring Break because I wanted to learn more about the community. The days I spent volunteering opened me up to new experiences. The overall goal is to transition from a member of the community to an active volunteer, learning about the issues we are helping with.

Monday and Tuesday were spent in a cold meat locker, seeing the boxes of food going out of Connecticut Foodshare. There, we learned how much they depended on volunteers like us, as 8,000 volunteers contribute to the effort of 31 full-time staff. The first three months of the year is their greatest time of need, and I wish we could spend our winter breaks helping them, since they needed it the most.

On Wednesday and Friday, we volunteered at Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS). I loved the sorting system at their warehouses. On Wednesday, we helped transport and sort clothes and school supplies to a nearby Goodwill. On Friday, we selected furniture and moved it into an Afghan refugee’s new house and sorted goods for a food drive.

We learned about the grueling process involved with processing refugees in America and that unused clothing can get recycled, so it does not end up polluting the Earth in landfills.

I had fun on Thursday building a house with Habitat for Humanity. We mixed cement to fill the foundation and spent the rest of the afternoon caulking the house. Habitat builds single-family homes for those who have good credit and are in need of affordable and sustainable housing.

They discussed the need for volunteers and donors, as well as the challenges that come with buying plots of land. It was hard work, but it was worth it and very rewarding at the end of the day.

Alyssa Cashman ’22

Over spring break, I attended the Alternative Spring Break program hosted by the University’s Center for Student Engagement, Leadership, and Orientation. Through this program, I learned about what it means to be a servant leader and an active citizen.

Each day, we served a community-based organization. The first two days, we worked with FoodShare, a Feeding America partner and the largest food bank in the state. Here, we sorted more than 20,000 pounds of meat to be distributed to partners throughout the state. We were also able to interact with staff and get a better understanding of the needs of people in the state and how food banks work to meet those needs.

On the third day, we went to Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS) in New Haven, where we worked in a warehouse and sorted food. The next day, we volunteered with Habitat for Humanity on a house being built in the area. We mixed concrete and caulked the house as we discussed with the site workers the impacts and goals of Habitat for Humanity.

On the final day, we returned to IRIS, which was the most impactful work for me personally. On this day, we gathered numerous items (bedding, furniture, toiletries, etc.) that a local refugee needed for his apartment. Instead of simply putting these items aside, the staff allowed us to go to the home and to aid with moving in the furniture. Seeing the look of pure happiness on the man as we brought the furniture into his home was extremely fulfilling and allowed me to truly see the impact I was making on the community.

Because of these experiences serving the community combined with a lot of self-reflection, I have seen myself grow to be a more active citizen who better understands the needs of the community and how I can help.

Alexander Kahmark ’23 M.A.

Alternative Spring Break was an amazing opportunity for me and for the University to create and enrich connections with community-based organizations. The University has been unable to have the community impact we usually have due to the pandemic, so this year was a great opportunity to re-establish those bonds.

What I enjoyed the most was the time we had forming those bonds and talking with the hard workers who have made it their life's goal to change their communities for the better.

At the University, we are striving to do more than just put a band-aid on the social justice issues through one-and-done volunteering. Our hope is that students are able to reflect on the impact they made and the impact of community-based organization (CBOs).

Additionally, learning about the CBOs we worked with and the social justice issues of the New Haven community remained priorities throughout our week, and we hope that it continues long after.

Kiara Caruth ’25 is a psychology major at the University of New Haven. Alyssa Cashman ’22 is a criminal justice major. Alexander Kahmark ’23 M.A. is a candidate in the University’s graduate program in industrial and organizational psychology and a CSELO graduate intern for civic engagement who served as coordinator for the Alternative Spring Break program.