CMU's award-winning Alternative Breaks program
sends students all over the country and world,
volunteering for social justice issues including animal
endangerment, natural disaster relief, suicide
prevention, and hunger and homelessness.
The program ranks fifth in the nation for the number
of trips taken and fourth for the number of students
participating. About 50 trips are organized during the
academic year, with more than 500 students
participating.
The program is so popular it typically has a waiting
list of more than 150 students.
These images by university photographer
Steve Jessmore capture the work of five student
teams that spent the 2014 spring break in a variety
of meaningful ways:
• Working at an Atlanta home for families affected by
HIV/AIDS
• Inspiring children and doing facilities work at the
YMCA in Asheville, North Carolina
• Preserving and cleaning at a Surry, Virginia, state park
• Rebuilding a Pittsburgh neighborhood for the elderly
• Supporting at-risk children at a North Charleston,
South Carolina, development center
31
centralight fall '14
community
nonprofit partners
Jakki Peplinski of Bay City
