Transforming lives one step at a time
No home. No food. Many of the homeless and hurricane victims are living with this constant worry.
This is one problem the Alternative Breaks Club want to eliminate for people who have lost their homes across the United States, specifically for hurricane victims in the South.
Kristan Sorenson, president of Alternative Breaks, said giving service is empowering and transforming people’s lives brings happiness, gratefulness and builds character.
As stated on their club Web site, www.usu.edu/asusu/clubs, the Alternative Breaks Club exists to give students the opportunity to spend their time off school providing meaningful service.
Sorenson said rebuilding New Orleans is just one of the club’s service missions.
Hurricane Katrina victims are still feeling the pinch, even after the hurricane annihilated homes three years ago, according to civilrights.org.
The majority of New Orleans residents are still living in poverty with inadequate food, water, means of transportation and scarce employment, the Web site said.
Sorenson said the saddest sight during an alternative break trip occurred spring 2007 in New Orleans.
Initially, the trip is what hooked Sorenson to the club.
Helping to rebuild New Orleans is what Sorenson said she helped her realize what these New Orleans residents went through.
“When I went to New Orleans, it kind of basically changed my life. I then realized what I wanted to do with the rest of my time,” she said. “I really came to realize that there are people who need help and I can make a difference.”
Many New Orleans residents are still living in trailers, going to inadequate, crammed schools and eating bad food, Sorenson said.
“I saw destroyed neighborhoods and homes were spray-painted with a number in the front of the home representing how many dead bodies were found in the house,” she said.
After Hurricane Katrina hit, Sorenson said people had to search through homes for survivors and in many cases, none were found.
“It was a little bit of a shocker,” she said.
The club’s responsibilities were to gut homes, meaning they had to rip out carpet and furniture and clean up hazardous and non-hazardous waste.
Sorenson said she joined this club to make a difference and to help people in need.
“Joining this club changed my life,” she said. “I’ve been inspired to help the homeless and to continue with humanitarian work.”
Sorenson plans to continue humanitarian projects after she graduates from USU. She would like to join Choice Humanitarian, she said, an agency that advocates building orphanages and ensures that places have good water supply and reliable sources for gas and electricity.
Sorenson said with her biological engineering degree, she would like to have the skills to help design relief projects in Nepal and in less fortunate countries in the world.
Natalie Lemon, junior in business administration, said she was first drawn to Alternative Breaks when she came to Scholar’s Day in April 2008.
“I heard from an ASUSU member about the service club and thought it would be tons of fun,” she said.
Lemon said she is glad she gets to do service here and far away.
“I am really excited about Alternative Breaks because not only will we be able to do service at home in our area but we will also be able to travel and help people who can’t help themselves across the country,” Lemon said.
This year Lemon said she is looking forward to the humanitarian projects in Washington D.C. to help the homeless, and in southern Texas, to aid hurricane victims.
“This club will help me realize how much I really do have and how great my life is, even when I think sometimes it isn’t,” she said.
Lemon, who will be club treasurer this year, said she loves doing service and anticipates the upcoming projects.
“It will be an interesting experience for me to see all the effort that goes into doing service,” she said.
For more details about the Alternative Break Club or questions on how to join contact k.lee.soren@aggiemail.usu.edu.
–candice.sandness@aggiemail.usu.edu