Students to Serve During Spring Break
More than 200 Westmont students will spend spring break (March 11-18) in Mississippi, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Ensenada, Mexico, volunteering for various service projects.
This year, 142 students and 58 professional volunteers from the local community are taking part in Potter’s Clay, an annual student-organized service trip to Mexico now in its 34th year. Students will begin packing up and driving to Ensenada on Friday, March 11, and Saturday, March 12. In Ensenada, the group will construct six homes, operate five medical and dental clinics, lead 14 vacation Bible schools and compete in sports events. For the first time, a team of student-photographers will record the week’s events.
Jeremy Fletcher, coordinator of student ministries and missions, says this has been a particularly challenging year due to popular perceptions that violence in Mexico is directly affecting the areas Westmont student’s serve. “Although the State Department has issued a travel warning, it’s focused on regions far to the east and south,” Fletcher says. “It has been communicated over and over by our Mexican partners how meaningful it is that we are simply coming — given the number of churches and teams that have canceled this year.”
Urban Initiative student volunteers will be working in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Santa Barbara. Eight students will be with Spring Break in the City, Los Angeles, partnering with Jonah Project on Skid Row, World Impact and the Dream Center. The students hope to serve the homeless population by distributing donated clothing and food and working on construction projects.
Eighteen members of Spring Break in the City, San Francisco, will serve the homeless in the Tenderloin district and with City Team Ministry. They will also work with alumna Teresa Goines at Old Skool Cafe, a supper club/internship program that helps neighborhood youth avoid gangs, drugs and crime.
There will be 35 Westmont students volunteering locally through Spring Break in the City, Santa Barbara. The volunteers will serve the homeless and residents at the Village and Carrillo Apartments, and work with students at Cleveland Elementary and La Cumbre Junior High Schools.
Six students with Racial Equality and Justice (REJ) will travel to Jackson, Miss., and Birmingham, Ala. The REJ group is in its eighth year serving with the John M. Perkins Foundation in Mississippi and learning about Christian community development and racial and economic justice. Students will continue working on the Zechariah 8 project, which refurbishes homes for underserved families as a pathway to home ownership and provides enriching after-school programs for children and youth.