Students use spring break for community service

WASHINGTON -- For a group of students who traveled to Washington for spring break, back alleys replaced warm, sunny sidewalks and chopping boards and soup kettles replaced surf boards and beach blankets. Instead of soaking in the sun, they prepared meals for the homeless alongside formerly homeless men and women at the D.C. Central Kitchen.\nThe trip was sponsored by St. Paul's Catholic Center.\nD.C. Central Kitchen is one of seven agencies where a group of 16 students volunteered during break. The group divided into three teams and visited a different agency each day so each student would get to see all the agencies. \nBesides volunteering at the Kitchen, students delivered meals to homebound AIDS patients, sorted clothes at a thrift store for the homeless, tutored children in an after-school program and spent time socializing with developmentally disabled adults.\nThe reasons students chose this instead of a trip to the beach or going home range from practical considerations to ideological ones.\nFor freshman Jyl Kuczynski, the trip was an inexpensive way to travel and an opportunity to get to know people she would not normally meet as a student in Bloomington.\n"It gets me out of the bubble I'm in in Bloomington to see what is really out here," Kuczynski said. \nKuczynski said one of her favorite parts of volunteering at the Kitchen was the atmosphere. Conversation, laughter and singing marked the time at work both for students and for job training participants. \n"It was great seeing people working and enjoying themselves, realizing they're doing something for themselves and their community," Kuczynski said.\nShe spent the morning chopping garlic for a giant kettle of soup. Once finished, the soup would contribute to the 3,000 meals per day that the kitchen provides to Washington's homeless population. \nFor Mark Erdosy, the student activities coordinator at St. Paul's Catholic Center, providing students with the opportunity to gain new experiences is a rewarding part of planning trips like this one. \nThe group went to mass at an African-American parish in D.C. where Erdosy said he felt unconditional love he hopes the students will bring back to St. Paul's.\nWhile for some students the trip can be a life-changing experience, most come back a little more aware of what they have after seeing people who have less, Erdosy said. \nGraduate student Caitlin Sullivan made a similar trip to D.C. as a sophomore and decided to help coordinate this year because she liked the people she met the first time. Sullivan said working alongside someone or serving them a meal in a soup kitchen gives her the chance to interact on a meaningful level.\n"You get to hear their stories, and from that you learn about yourself and how you fit into the bigger picture," Sullivan said.\nSullivan has a hard time going on vacations where she isn't doing something because she said she is used to being active at school. She went to Florida for break her freshman year, but came away feeling like she put a lot of money into the trip and didn't get very much out of it. Sullivan said a mission trip like the one to D.C. costs a lot less and she gets a lot more out of it.\n"I'm doing some work and I'm having some fun at the same time, so it's a good balance," Sullivan said.\nFreshman Sarah Brown said the trip was an opportunity for her to meet new people, help other people and have a good time. Brown said the bond she feels with the other students she is working and traveling with is unique because they are helping other people. \n"If people have the opportunity to do something like this, I think they should definitely take advantage of it," Brown said.