USU students serve SLC homeless population over fall break
While many Utah State University students spent fall break doing a host of activities like exploring Utah’s national parks, meandering through Ogden, Salt Lake and other cities, or attending the Aggie football game, a group of nine students devoted their weekend to serving a struggling local community.
The students were part of the Alternative Breaks program. Each year the program sends university students to a variety of locations to do service during fall break, spring break, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. Students in the past have traveled to locations like Seattle and San Francisco to serve, but this year the program aimed to go local and help the homeless population in Salt Lake City.
“We were working with the Center for Civic Engagement and Service Learning Office — they found the service project and we thought it would be nice to have a local one,” said Sarah Larsson, the Alternative Breaks Issue Area Coordinator.
The students’ weekend of service began early Saturday morning at the Road Home — a facility that provides shelter and food for anyone in need — in Midvale. The students put on a two-hour-long activity for children who live at the Road Home with their parents. During the activity, the children made superhero capes, which they decorated with a rainbow assortment of beads and feathers. The children also played games with the USU students and ran through a makeshift obstacle course.
Following the Saturday morning service activity, the group of students spent the afternoon organizing clothing and food donations at the Road Home’s warehouse. The crew of nine was back in Salt Lake City the following morning to help with the Fill-the-Pot Homeless Ministry, a weekly Sunday-morning event where members of the Calvary Baptist Church and others serve food to the homeless in Pioneer Park.
For Larsson, who is in her second year as the Issue Area Coordinator, the weekend in Salt Lake City, she said, was a learning experience.
“It’s interesting to actually see the kids that live here. For me, at least, it’s eye-opening,” she said. “This happens in our own backyard. When I used to think of these big social issues, I thought, those happen in big cities — it’s not here, right? But it definitely is. It’s been nice to be in our own community and help out and see how we can make a change.”
Miranda Weed, a USU senior studying communicative disorders, said the weekend was one of firsts for her — her first time participating in the Alternative Breaks program and her first time doing service for Utah’s homeless population.
“I’ve never been to a shelter before. I’ve never seen a lot of stuff like this before — it’s new,” Weed said.
The proximity of the issue to Logan made the weekend something special for the USU students.
“I think it’s cool Salt Lake is so close to Logan,” she said. “This hits home. These are people in our communities that we are helping out.”
The Alternative Breaks program is open for all USU students to participate in. For students wanting more information about upcoming Alternative Breaks trips, visit servicecenter.usu.edu/programs/alternativebreak.
– jordan.floyd@aggiemail.usu.edu
@JordanFloyd17