BeachCorps Spring Break: One day, possibly in 2019, BeachCorps will create a new kind of Spring break, one that combines the best of the fun of a traditional Spring Break with the best of the learning, personal growth, and social responsibility of the growing Alternative Spring Break movement. Hundreds of thousands of college students celebrate Spring Break each year in what they see as a rite of passage. However, many Spring Breakers engage in excessive drinking, use illegal drugs and make bad personal decisions.
What about the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) Movement? An Alternative Spring Break is a trip where a group of college students (usually 10–12 per trip) engage in volunteer service and learning. ASB trips originated with college students in the early 1980s as a counter to traditional Spring Break trips. In 2016, a survey of 168 institutions reported nearly 23,000 students participated in more than 1,600 trips during the 2015-16 school year, according to Break Away, a national nonprofit that provides training and support for the trips. That represented an increase from 16,700 students on 1,300 trips four years before that reported by 130 schools. Even so, the growing ASB movement is still small compared to the more traditional party-based Spring Break.
BeachCorps Spring Break: The BeachCorps Spring Break will combine the best of both worlds:
Fun of Traditional Spring Break: stays in nice hotels, the fun of an all-inclusive and the beach.
No Alcohol or Drug Abuse Policy: Students will place security deposits guaranteeing they won’t drink to excess and will not use any illegal drugs of any kind.
1-3 Days of Volunteering: Depending on the length of their stay, students will support local causes like other BeachCorps trips. These trips can actually complement and support ASB trips from the same schools.
For more information, email: info@beachcorps.com
Photo: Dominican Dream Project, a super nonprofit helping the kids of the North Coast that BeachCorps knows well and supports via social media. We will seek to support the Dominican Dream Project when we make it out of Punta Cana into the Puerto Plata area, or they make it over to Punta Cana or the East!