UTSA students spend their break giving back to the community

DECEMBER 2, 2024 — In a single weekend, more than 200 meals were packaged for those experiencing homelessness, a shelter got help reorganizing donated clothing, a Christmas nativity scene was set up for children and hot meals were handed out at a public park to anyone in need.

Twelve UTSA students spent three days in Corpus Christi the weekend before Thanksgiving with the goal of having a positive impact on a community as part of the Alternative Break Program.

The program, coordinated by the UTSA Student Involvement Center, is an experiential learning opportunity for students to explore social issues in communities.

“It really helps them see that social issues are always broader than their own communities.”

“Our students are always looking for service opportunities, and Alternative Break gives them an extra push to be engaged and active in other communities outside San Antonio,” said Chantea Swinson-Rhoe, the center’s director. “It really helps them see that social issues are always broader than their own communities.”

The program was started in 1994 by the student group Volunteer Organization Involving Community, Education and Service (VOICES), with 20 students traveling to Reynosa, Mexico.

From Huntsville to Puerto Rico, student volunteers have traveled far to give back to communities while focusing on important issues such as environmental restoration, immigration, child abuse and animal rescue.

This trip to Corpus aligned with Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, which began on Sunday, November 17, and concluded on Saturday, November 23.

For Valeria Castro, a member of VOICES and first-time participant in the Alternative Break program, the part of the trip that really “touched her heart” was working with Tacos not Bombs, a nonprofit that feeds the hungry every Sunday at a local city park. A sophomore, Castro is double majoring in neuroscience and biochemistry.

“Volunteering really pushes you to see things in a different perspective, someone else’s perspective,” she said. “You can do the smallest thing, like help move boxes or help hand out food, and it makes a world of difference for these organizations that are working to help people in need.”

After joining Alternative Break for the first time last year, trip leader Sahana Babu knew she wanted to come back and oversee a trip herself.  Babu is in her sophomore year and is working toward her degree in neuroscience with a minor in civic engagement.

“Alternative Break is a really good way to get involved with volunteering,” she said. “It helps students see themselves in a volunteer role, it helps them find the right kind of service they’re interested in, and they get a sense of how rewarding it is to serve others.”

A bonus, Babu said, is the connections students make with each other while spending so much time together learning, volunteering and sharing their experiences on the trip during group exercises, called “Reflections.”

Interest in the program has been growing, with more than 82 students applying to join an Alternative Break trip this year alone. Each group trip allows for only 12 students, two trip leaders and two faculty or staff advisors. Trip leaders and student volunteers are selected solely based on their application responses.

With so much demand for the program, the Student Involvement Center is looking to expand the reach of the program.  

“We’ve been able to sustain and grow this program because of so much interest from students,” Swinson-Rhoe said. “We see a high inquiry of students who’ve previously been on these trips wanting to go on another or to return as a trip leader. And because of their interest in returning, they’re asking for an alternative summer break. So that’s the next thing we’re working on.”

— Michelle Gaitan