Participants in Alternative Spring Break trips have recently mobilized, hosting a dance party in Collis Common Ground and bake sales in Novack Cafe to raise money for program expenses. For the first time, this year the Tucker Foundation required each group to raise $300 toward the cost of its trip.
Six service-oriented trips organized through the Tucker foundation, sending students to the Dominican Republic, Florida, West Virginia, Colorado, Ohio and Washington, D.C.
On the trips, students work on community housing, health and education projects, said program manager for service trips Adam Knowlton-Young.
In the past, Tucker required students to pay a $200 fee, for which the foundation offered $100 scholarships. The foundation also suggested that trip members raise $500 to help meet program costs.
However, Knowlton-Young said that in his experience, groups rarely met the $500 goal.
This year, while each student must still pay the $200 fee, groups are also required to raise $300 or split the remainder out-of-pocket, regardless of which program they participate in.
Students can also apply for a $100 scholarship to mitigate their individual program fee, Knowlton-Young said.
Katie Chung ’14, who participated in the Dominican Republic trip last year and will co-lead the same trip this year, said that because the $500 fundraising goal was not enforced last year, meeting it was not a priority. She said her group did not make an organized effort and that not all trip members were engaged in the process.
The shift this year, Chung said, caused her group to change how it approached raising money. This year, the group traveling to the Dominican Republic organized a dance party alongside members of the Florida trip, during which students learn about migrant worker issues.
The two groups hosted the “Noche de Sabor,” or “Night of Flavor,” on Feb. 21. The event included salsa, merengue and tango dance lessons led by trip participants and ended in a dance party, said Goodwill Batalingaya ’16, who is also leading the Dominican Republic trip. Tickets cost $5 for singles and $8 for couples.
The event raised $429 dollars in total for the two trips, Batalingaya said.
Chung said her group will supplement the funds raised at the dance event with a doughnut sale in Novack this Friday.
Knowlton-Young said that the most successful fundraisers are ones, like “Noche de Sabor,” that incorporate the themes of a specific trip. More common, he said, are food sales in well-trafficked spots on campus, like Novack. This term, different Alternative Spring Break groups have sold ramen, Wendy’s hamburgers, Indian tacos and baked goods.
Sarah Ogren ’16, who will participate in the Washington, D.C., program, said that her trip divided its members into three groups, each responsible for raising $100. Her team sold Wendy’s hamburgers last Saturday. The Denver group will also host a bake sale, Shannon Cleary ’16 said.
Tucker will pool the money raised by the groups to alleviate costs, including expenses for books, transportation and accommodation, for all six programs, Knowlton-Young said.
