Multicultural Programs
& Services
Student Government Association
Leadership & Service
206 Bone Student Center
Campus Box 2640
Normal, IL 61790-2640
Phone: (309) 438-8972
TDD (309) 438- 2762
Facsimile: (309) 438-3147
This year was my first year being involved with ASB and I loved every second of it. I wanted to be a site facilitator because I wanted to not only impact the lives of the people we were helping, but also impact the lives of the ISU students going on the trip. Each participant that goes on an ASB trip comes back with his or her own story of what impacted him/her. Some of these stories are about the great friends they made on the trip, while others are about the service project they worked on. For me, it was when I met one resident of St. Bernard’s Parish named Steven Gonzales; his story truly changed my life.
Steven and his wife, Joan, were trapped in their home when it began to flood and Steven carried his wheelchair-bound wife to the attic. The water began to rise, but eventually Steven and Joan were rescued by people who returned to the wreckage to save people that were stranded. Steven’s wife later passed away while they were living in a FEMA trailer during their houses’ renovations. Steven now is in the process of opening his own volunteer center in St. Bernard and has received a number of different donations from people he hasn’t even met but have heard his story. He named it Joan’s House for Hope, in honor of his late wife. I know without a doubt in my mind that I will devote my life to working for non-profit organizations to help those who are less fortunate than most.
As an undergraduate at Illinois State, I am so glad that I decided to participate in Alternative Spring Break. I had a great experience as a volunteer. During my trip in Washington D.C., I helped with the Food and Friends program that served individuals with HIV and AIDS. The program not only served those with HIV and AIDS, but also cancer patients and their families. I helped bag food, cook for people, and cleaned the facility. It was amazing to see all of the different dietary plans that were approved through a nutritionist, and the level of care involved in meeting the needs of the people. I was inspired by the employees at Food and Friends and how they cared about what they were doing and the people that they served.
In addition to serving the community, we also enjoyed a special breakfast with Illinois State Senators Barack Obama and Dick Durbin. This was an incredible experience and I urge all students of Illinois State to be apart of this incredible journey.
I participated in Alternative Spring Break for two years. My last trip was to New Orleans, and was one I will always remember. It took place a year and a half after Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana. At the time, the city was slowly coming back but was far from oblivion. I worked with helping to gut houses and with the rebuilding process. With each house our team got better at our work and worked closer, harder and most importantly - together.
What was the most inspiring part of this trip was when a homeowner talked to us before we started to work on her home. She wanted to thank us for our work and began to cry. She was so grateful for our service that she provided us with lunch and told us about her life and the memories she had created in her home.
This trip taught me so much. Being thanked by the people and hearing their stories and requests touched me in such a way that I’ll never forget. I learned that there can be hope as long as groups such as Alternative Spring Break continue this work. I consider this trip a human lesson on compassion and strength. You can’t develop those qualities from the media or a text book. Rather you get them from the people you touch – the mouths of those who went through Hurricane Katrina. It gave me much peace to know that we had done so much good for someone else and knowing that soon these people would be returning to their home - and better days ahead. Alternative Spring Break showed me that hope still lives on and nothing can wash that away.
