Students take an alternative break

By: Bailey Mannisto-Iches

Posted: 4/4/07

During Spring Break, some Sacramento State students picked up shovels and hammers to help with upgrades at homes and community centers in South Sacramento.

Students were able to get down and dirty from Wednesday to Saturday with the Sacramento chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

Working with Habitat for Humanity this spring break was the first item on the agenda for Sac State's Alternative Break program. Alternative Break is organized by the Office of Community Collaboration, which plans to offer even more community service projects with campus affiliation, during future school breaks.

While it was not a vacation spot, some students said they enjoyed helping out.

"I'm having a good time, although I woke up at an ungodly hour," said junior studio-art major Alexandria Singh.

Singh was the team leader on Friday. Each day, a different person was appointed as team leader to take charge with a binder full of names and tasks.

Participants began their days at Oak Park Community Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and were told that the worksite would vary day to day. Each day, they were told where to go and what to do, and had to be flexible for the numerous possibilities.

On Friday six Sac State women sweated away by helping to build shelves at Depot Park in Sacramento, with Habitat for Humanity's Restore program. They screwed nuts and bolts manually, after moving 30 shelf units on pallets from one large warehouse to another.

According to the website, Habitat for Humanity Restore accepts new and reusable building and remodeling materials and relies on community volunteers for its operations.

"There aren't any guys today… but looking at us, maybe that's a good thing," said junior art major, Melanie Brown.

The women agreed that when first introduced to the seemingly hard task of relocating and restoring shelves, they wished they had some males present to help with the big stuff.

After putting in their share of hard work, they found that they didn't need any so-called "manpower" to get the job done.

"I don't think they anticipated us to get this much done," Melissa Wallace, junior international-intercultural communications major, and one of the Alternative Break organizers, said Friday while working with Restore.

On Friday, the work was primarily inside.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the work was at a home-site, said junior Liz Olsen, a nutrition major.

"We did yard work. The house was pretty much finished from (the group) Wednesday," said Juana Gevera, a senior business major who signed up to work both Thursday and Friday.

Wallace said that they expected 14 volunteers to work on Saturday.

Brown and her twin-sister Amelia Brown, an English major, had just decided to make more of a difference in the community when they first found out about Alternative Break.

"I just happened to find the flyer on campus, it was perfect timing," Brown said.