by: Katherine Majewski
Twelve Parkland students chose to spend part of their spring break doing something very different from the usual rest and relaxation. Between March 17th and 21st, they traveled to Flint, MI on an “Alternative Spring Break” dedicated to community service in the struggling city. This trip was offered for the second year in a row in collaboration with the Firestone Center, a volunteer organization dedicated to social justice in Flint.
Students on the service learning trip volunteered on a variety of construction and cleanup projects over the course of three days. The volunteers worked on a foundation, tackled carpentry projects like cabinet building and door repair, and stripped a house on recently purchased land for reusable materials. They also cleared more than a 40-yard dumpster’s worth of trash from the grounds of Shady Acres Trailer Park, abandoned 15 years ago. Students were even able to carry over work on a former apartment complex-turned-duplex that other Parkland students had assisted with during the prior year’s Alternative Spring Break. Activities Program Manager Josh Clark, who organized and went on the trip, said it was “pretty much a brick frame” at that time, yet “when we showed up this year, they were putting the finishing touches on it… It was really cool to see that kind of jump.”
Not all of the work was done outdoors. Students also had opportunities to help organize a food pantry and read to local children. In addition, they served dinner at Franklin Avenue Mission one night, where they met Flint residents face-to-face and were able to share conversation along with the meal. Stevinson Jean-Baptiste, one of the students who went on the trip, said of the dialogue, “There’s hope, because things they didn’t have last year, they have this year. There’s improvement.” There were also other opportunities to speak with members of the community and hear their perspectives. Upon their arrival on Sunday the 17th, Parkland students were given a driving tour of the city by a representative of Flint’s public planning department. On another occasion, a former city councilor who now works at Mott Community College gave a lecture on Flint’s history and the issues it faces.
While students didn’t have much free time between their many planned activities, they did get to hang out and bond at the Firestone Center in between competitive games of air hockey. Clark said that they were able to “share their experiences and learn from each other.”
The Alternative Spring Break trip benefited organizations from Habitat for Humanity to local institutions like Franklin Avenue Mission and St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center. It held both surprises and benefits for the students who made the trek. Jean-Baptiste was shocked by “the fact that there are so many kids who don’t go to school because of instability… knowing which country I’m in right now, I didn’t expect a city that was that poor.” He appreciated the opportunity “to be able to see what’s going on there… The city is growing. It was a great thing for me to be part of that building.” Clark agreed on the positives of those days in Flint: “College is a very self-focused experience, and I feel that service kind of takes you out of that place and gives you a different perspective.”
Clark said that this trip is accessible to Parkland students from different walks of life; many of the students who went this year have jobs, children, and other commitments, but were still able to come along for the ride. Students with majors in construction design and management or social work may want to consider the Alternative Spring Break in future years, as would those with an interest in community service. “You don’t have to go to Flint to do service work” Clark said. He encourages students to look for volunteer opportunities around Champaign-Urbana, such as at the Wesley Food Pantry. Meanwhile, Jean-Baptiste said that he’s definitely going on the Alternative Spring Break next year.
