APSU students perform service work in Louisiana and Florida over winter break

Clarksville, TN – Earlier this month, two groups of Austin Peay State University students spent a week volunteering on Alternative Break Trips. Collectively, the students completed more than 400 hours of community service.

From January 9th-14th, eight students and a staff member traveled to Lacombe, Louisiana, to spend a week volunteering with the Giving Hope Retreat, a partnership organization with the New Orleans Rescue Mission.

They spent the week helping with maintenance around the property, which temporarily houses homeless men while teaching them to rebuild their lives through vocational training.

Much of their time was spent renovating a gutted cabin that will allow the retreat center to serve an additional 20 residents.

From January 9th-15th, seven students and two staff members traveled to Gainesville, Florida, to work with Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary. The sanctuary rescues monkeys from research laboratories and creates an environment for them to live. The APSU students prepared food and medicine, built enclosures and helped maintain monkey habitats.

The Alternative Break program is organized by the Center for Service-Learning and Community Engagement at APSU. Through a written application, students are selected to participate in a variety of service projects throughout the country that are organized by student leaders and faculty/staff advisors. A total of 11 trips are scheduled throughout the 2015-2016 academic year, during the fall, winter, spring and summer.

For more information on how to get involved, students should visit www.apsu.edu/volunteer