Alternate Spring Break (ASB) was founded in 1990 by a group of Penn students who wanted to give others an opportunity to spend their spring breaks doing meaningful and fun community service work. Originally ASB participants worked exclusively with Habitat for Humanity, a nationwide organization that confronts the issues of housing and homelessness by building affordable low-income housing. This ye
ar we plan on continuing our involvement with Habitat and other community service organizations. Over the last decade, ASB has developed into a hugely successful organization. Each year, over one hundred Penn students participate on ASB trips to various parts of the country. Our ASB alumni pool numbers in the thousands! ASB trips take place in March during the week of Spring Break. This year, ASB will offer seven trips to various locations across the United States. Participants on each site will spend the week working with a particular volunteer organization. Historically, half of the ASB trips each year have been to Habitat for Humanity sites. Additional organizations that we have partnered with in the past include Volunteers for Communities, Youth Service Opportunities Project, Volunteers of America and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Past trips have included constructing adobe houses in Taos, New Mexico, building trails along the Appalachian Trail in Narrows, Virginia, participating in Habitat for Humanity in Miami Florida and San Francisco California, and tutoring children on a Cherokee Nation reservation in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Click here for more information about past sites. All ASB trips are led by two trained student site leaders, who are responsible for coordinating logistics and scheduling activities during the week of spring break. ASB participants work hard, but trips are also structured to include relaxation and down time during the week of Spring Break.
